Microsoft own the rights to battletech but have failed to respond to our communications regarding rights to distribute these games. The other two games have been abandoned by their original publisher (Microprose), and Hasbro Interactive who seem to have taken over the products that Microprose owned seems to have disappeared recently too. If mc.org was not around, you could download the XNA studio software and the source code files for MC2 from the Microsoft website and build your own version. Therefore this game is essentially freeware (although some disagree). Microsoft has released the source code and assets required for everyone to build their own version of MechCommander 2.
MechCommander 2, however, has a more advanced copy protection method and will require patching to remove the cd verification check.
MechCommander and MechCommander Gold do not require any special software to make them work. These data within these ISO images is a 100% accurate copy of the data on the original game CDs. The code has not been changed in any way, shape or form. Btw doing some searches I've found this quote:
