The answer is that it is illegal to download Abandonware as it is material that belongs to somebody else and legally it is as serious as downloading any other copyrighted software but it is often overlooked by publishers and developers because if a game is not being sold, they are not losing any money by us making it available for download.
Copyright law exists because if everyone used copied software the publishers and developers would never make the money to develop new software. The point of abandonware is not to take money away from these people but if a game is not being sold then the publisher and developer are not making any money so there isn't really any harm in us sharing it.
If a publisher were to request the removal of a game from the site I am sure it would be done immediately.
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