Remember all those files you've downloaded over the years, characters, clothing, props, poses, textures, etc.? And for one reason or other you have a system crash and lose all of it so you figure you will just download those items again but to your horror you find that the site and or the items no longer exist. There is still a way to access these lost files! It is not full proof and it is not gauranteed but I personally have recovered lost files from some lost sites.
Before you ask, yes this is legal since these items were previously available to begin with.
Here is my method:
Go to the Internet Archive website and use the <a href="http://www.archive.org/web/web.php">WAYBACK MACHINE</a>. This is quoted from the site itself,
<i><b>"The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format."</b></i>
If you want to visit a site that hasn't been around for a few years just type in the old address in the Wayback Machine address box and it will give you a list of links with copies of the old site. Sometimes the old files are still on these copied sites which means you can still download old items! Now it's BAD News/GOOD news time. BAD news is that 9 times out of 10 the zip file you downloaded will be corrupt and assumed to be unuseable. GOOD news, now here is the trick, you need to download a utility called [Link removed by Tormie: commercial product]. This little tool can usually repair most corrupt or damaged zip files. I have personally been able to restore alot of old files this way.
This is just another alternative for those wanting to track down old files to use for their own personal use but it will also allow you to retrieve information such as the author's e-mail for contact purposes. Give it a try...who knows what treasures you'll uncover!