Reasons why they should WANT me to distribute their old game for free:
If they repackage it to sell it, they will most likely
not be selling the original DOS version as part of the package. Why? It's too incompatible with modern computers. (The font looks messed up on many video cards, for instance.) They'd have to put up with a ton of user complaints and do tons of tech support because, realisticly, average Joe Computer User doesn't know how to make old DOS games work on their computer.
Additionally, by having people downloading and playing the old version, it's like free advertising for EA and the whole line of Sim games. Maybe someone hasn't played the original for years, and will say "Hmmm I wonder if they ever made any more Simcity games?" I think there are also versions available for Palm and/or PocketPC handhelds. (If there aren't I'm sure they'll be available soon.) It would be like free advertising for those platforms.
There's also the classic "abandonware" argument, that there would be no need to try to distribute these old games this way if the companies were still selling the games. But since they're not, there's no way to play these classic games anymore. Since the company doesn't want to sell them anymore, why not allow us to distribute them for free, as long as we're not selling them either?
Of course, I am not blind to EA's concerns, either. I think if it were MY intellectual property, I might be hesitant to allow people to just start passing it around for free.
