Although this discussion doesn't really need my input, I'd like to say that this is a common misapprehension. ROM's are copies of games, and illegal under copyright law because of that. Copyright law has 3 parts, the right to profit from your work, the right to control the distribution of your work, and the right to say how your work is used. ROMS take away all 3 parts of that from the game companies. 24 hours, 10 seconds, 3 years, no matter how long you have a ROM, it's illegal unless it was approved and distributed by the company that made the original game.
