20 Years of "World of Sam"

The idea of a Sam Coupé information archive first came about towards the end of 2004 on the sam-users mailing list, and the initial version of this site was installed in about December of that year. After a few weeks of rigging up the scaffolding, the floodgates were opened to public contributions and the information started flowing in!

That was twenty years ago, so now worldofsam.org is considerably older than the Sam itself was at the time we started!

All this in mind, I'm announcing a change of one of the site policies. Previously we would only make software downloads available with explicit documented permission from its copyright holder. As of now, I'm enabling downloads for other software if the copyright holders and/or authors haven't declined a request to do so.

This policy still maintains the core principle that I don't want to go against anybody's wishes, and I definitely don't intend to undermine anyone who is still actively developing for the Sam Coupé and maintains control of the distribution of their things.

But also it reflects the reality that software sold in the nineties is another two decades out of its commercial relevance. None of us are getting any younger, and if (despite considerable effort) we haven't managed to track down the authors of old software in the last twenty years, we're probably not going to be able to in the next twenty either.

This position also aligns with the way that most similar software archive sites now work. We have a lot more visibility of how copyright legislation such as the DMCA have worked out in practice in the last two decades, and provided that I make a good-faith effort to respond to complaints about contentious downloads, I don’t think there is imminent legal risk.

Hopefully it will also serve to make the site a better resource for any new Sam users who may venture into the scene through the ZX Spectrum Next KS3 and its upcoming ability to behave as a SAM Coupé. If that’s you, then Welcome! Have a look round, and relive with us the life of a computer that to a few people meant such a lot.