This is a tricky one I think. Apparently, roms are legal to OWN as long as you have the original copy, if not you have to delete them within 24 hours. If you ask Nintendo they'll say otherwise. I've heard it's illegal to distribute them though, i'm not too sure about this. The main concern I have is that, the original companies are no longer selling sega genisis games and therefore stand at no loss if they're distributed. I'm, not advocating Piracy or breach of Copyright, I run a hosting company it's a constant problem. I just want to know what you all think?
It's never been a good idea to host roms(though I don't know any one that got into any problems from them) but with Nintendo's virtual console on the Wii coming out soon which will have all those old games....
Its perfectly legal to have roms on a site as long as you have a disclaimer or such asking that they must own the game before downloading or delete within 24 hours. Unless of course your hosting provider says otherwise in there disclaimer.
Haha.. You are not allowed to host Roms, no matter what, even with that 24hr false claim. You are not even allowed to download them, even if you own the original cartridge. But then, companies do not care or it is a waste of money to proceed with a case (loss > gain). I read this a while ago before I started my own rom site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROM_image Peace,
lol well my bad on the 24hour crap...but it is legal to host games depending on what country it is etc.