I didn't expect this much response, but it's great to see so much discussion.
First of all, I'm personally not happy about removing the links to the patched files. Apart from anything else, by downloading and patching the roms, then uploading them to mega.nz (where I hope they'll be safely available for years), and then posting the links to the download thread, I was actually doing something for this community. It was very little, true, but I have no skills that are transferable to hacking an N64 rom - I'm not smart enough to reprogram it, for example, and I don't speak Japanese so I can't help with translations, I can't use a modelling program so I can't help add weapon or player animations to Goldeneye X, etc.
So maintaining that thread, utterly trivial though that task was, was my way of doing something for our small but fantastic community. Making the downloads available in one place, and keeping a copy of each download (so that, say, in mega.nz goes down, then I could upload them all to a different site and post up the new links) was a job anyone could do, and I was grateful to be able to do it, as there aren't many other ways I could help others out on the forum.
But the situation has changed now. Only slightly, as I've said, but now that fake N64 cartridges are changing hands for money (which to a company with a legal team as large as Nintendo's is *much* less acceptable than the totally free rom patches we've had until now) then N64 hacking can easily become a target for Nintendo's infamous Cease and Desist campaigns. It's true that N64 hacking would never be eradicated totally, but cease and desist orders would do a lot of damage, as many people wouldn't want to risk a court case, and would instead rather abandon N64 hacking totally.
I am probably being over-cautious (and I really hope I am), and my decision might well have been influenced by a suddern spike of sciatica (it's horrible, but don't feel sorry for me, it's my own fault for mistreating my body when I was young

), and I'm surprised by the depth of feeling in this thread. So I am rethinking my decision, but would be glad to hear any more reasons for or against the rom download thread.
I have kept a copy of the thread, of course, and can restore it easily if that's the right thing to do. The truth is, there's no answer that will please everyone, so I want to do what's best for most of us. If I do restore the thread, then I won't be including links to the patched roms of any authors who forbid it of course, as that, at least would clearly be wrong. So far that's only Ozidual and Zoinkity, but they have good reason for their decision, and we have to respect that. And we also have to respect the fact that they have done so much for us without asking for a penny in return, and that they are happy for us to enjoy the results of their hard work, and all they ask is that we don't distribute the patched roms, that we instead keep the whole thing legal by applying the patches ourselves.
Greg2600 and Asaki are right that we should keep things legal and above board, but against that we're talking about twenty year old games for a long obsolete console, with a small player base, which involves no money changing hands (aside from the fake cartridges), so we're probably OK if we go on as before. We're not hurting anyone, after all.
So does anyone have any more arguments for or against restoration of the thread, please?
Prototypes are not ROM hacks, why have they been removed too?
But the prototypes are still copyrighted. So providing a link to a prototype or beta, such as Glover 2, or an unreleased game, such as 40 Winks, is no different to providing a link to a released game such as Super Mario 64.