Is there a place that i can download the not entirely finished version of Van Buren. it was like 95% done and id like to play what they had of it

That would be illegal, so no.

It was only 50% complete by the way.

Bethesda has said they have no plans to release it as they don't feel it is appropriate for them to release someone else's work.

There's a http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Van_Buren_tech_demo but that's all I know of.

It could have been released for free so I wouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that it would have to be piracy.

95% finished is rather high but your estimate sounds low to me. This is what http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/johndeiley1.php had to say: The engine was about 95% done. You could create characters, use skills, perform both ranged and melee combat, save/load games, and travel across maps. We had a tutorial level done that would let you do all of the above. All areas but one had been designed. About 75% of the dialogs were done and at least 50% of the maps. We had character models and monster models.

I might be confusing games then, but isn't releasing someone elses unfinished work without consent illegal? I thought I remember seeing that they still have the rights over Van Buren.

If someone had leaked Van Buren to the internet then downloading it would be illegal. However it's reasonable to ask whether it's available for download in case it has been legally released for free like Daggerfall or Arena, or the Arx Fatalis source code.

Why was it canceled?

Interplay were well into their death spiral at the time. Much like you might want to throw the heavy stuff of a sinking boat to try and make it float, Interplay threw the PC development team overboard and thus had noone to make the game.

The PC development team was laid off in December 2003. Not so long later the Landlord issued Interplay with an Eviction notice, and the state of California was coming after them for not paying their workers. They went dark for a year or so.

And then, Sadly for those of us who still morn the long gone interplay that made the games of the Fargo era, they came back... somehow. Against all the odds they had done it - they'd thrown enough overboard and sold enough IP to keep the boat just above the waterline.

The story continues to this day. They're still leaking money last filings I read and there are other issues we of course cant discuss here, but they don't look like they're going away, yet at least.