As per the src tarball ( src/unix/doc/mame/whatsnew.txt ): IMPORTANT: As of MAME 0.96, the source code license has changed. Please see the new file license.txt for details. The new license is based off the BSD license, with additional prohibitions against commercial usage. See http://mamedev.com for additional details.
Created attachment 58732 [details] New xmame license New BSD style xmame license
fixed in CVS. Thanks for the bug report.