Illegally Downloading and Uploading etc

NoraBattie · 17/10/06 - 22:55

ok I'm a bit naive. I've been downloading music from the net for a few years. Originally had Kazaa but besides all the viruses etc that went with it I got rid of it cos of the scare of being prosecuted for illegal downloading.

BUT I missed my music too much so decided to download Limewire. This has worked perfectly for me and was advised by someone who i think is in 'the know' about these things to set my preferences to '0' uploads so that people couldnt upload songs off me even though I could download away off others... therefore I'm not technically sharing any files making what I was doing legal.

Could someone please let me know if this is right or wrong.
Does it depend on what legislation each government has as my husband told me today that he heard our government were in the process of prosecuting thousands of people for illegaly downloading music off the internet.

[Deleted User] · 17/10/06 - 23:08

Yep its still illegal. ONly a matter of time before what happens in America will happen here.

chrisjr · 17/10/06 - 23:12

It is only legal if the owner of the copyright in the material has given permission for said material to be distributed to you. The fact that you do not intend to share it with anyone else is irrelevant

pxd867 · 17/10/06 - 23:22

Plus if do not share, sooner or later you will find that people will cut your download rate.

NoraBattie · 17/10/06 - 23:26

thanks for the advice guys. better get burning and deleting then asap.

Netizen · 17/10/06 - 23:46

NoraBattie wrote:

thanks for the advice guys. better get burning and deleting then asap.

I wouldn't bother, once the tracks are on your hard drive there's no easy way to prove where they came from, or that you personally even downloaded them. The likelyhood of getting 'caught' is very low. You only need be as paranoid as you want to be

[Deleted User] · 17/10/06 - 23:53

make sure that you dont let everyone see what files you have on limewire. I personally would allow some uploads [its only fair and yes, if i saw you wasnt sharing, i'd kick you off] and install peerguardian.

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 00:05

Ahww... bless.

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 00:47

Both uploading and download is illegal. But the authorities are only currently prosecuting people who upload music (in huge amounts).

System · 18/10/06 - 06:52

Pingu wrote:

Both uploading and download is illegal. But the authorities are only currently prosecuting people who upload music (in huge amounts).

The authorities can't prosecute people who only download because it isn't a criminal offence. Downloading is only a civil offence and so, while the studios/record companies could sue you for perceived losses (which isn't worth their time), the government can't do anything to you.

However if you upload the file you are distributing copyrighted material and the offence becomes a criminal one.

That's why i recommend Usenet for all your downloading needs. No upload required.

Vic Mackey · 18/10/06 - 08:45

There have only been a few hundred prosecutions in all, must be millions downloading in this country alone.

sbugg · 18/10/06 - 09:46

rhetherington wrote:

The authorities can't prosecute people who only download because it isn't a criminal offence. Downloading is only a civil offence and so, while the studios/record companies could sue you for perceived losses (which isn't worth their time), the government can't do anything to you.

However if you upload the file you are distributing copyrighted material and the offence becomes a criminal one.

That's why i recommend Usenet for all your downloading needs. No upload required.

Horray someone who knows what they are talking about instead of just saying what they think should be true

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 09:55

Mr Smooth wrote:

ONly a matter of time before what happens in America will happen here.

As others here have said ... it's happening NOW in the UK and has been for some time.

Look here ....

http://www.melonfarmers.co.uk/awcf06.htm

[scroll down to the story dated 30th January "Sharing Cash"]

A little more general news here ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/3722428.stm

This from an excellent site (run from & based in the UK NOT the USA) which tries to keep up with what's going on on the P2P world.

http://p2p.malwareremoval.com/index.html

Although programs may be classified as "clean" it relates to the program ONLY. It's still up to the user to ...

1. be very careful not to download infected material

and

2. remember the financial risks they are taking.

R.

NoraBattie · 18/10/06 - 10:51

rhetherington wrote:

The authorities can't prosecute people who only download because it isn't a criminal offence. Downloading is only a civil offence and so, while the studios/record companies could sue you for perceived losses (which isn't worth their time), the government can't do anything to you.

However if you upload the file you are distributing copyrighted material and the offence becomes a criminal one.

That's why i recommend Usenet for all your downloading needs. No upload required.

This is what i had heard originally which is why i never got rid of the software as i thought it was legal.

How is it possible that there is no upload required with usenet?

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 10:54

Justa little tip when downloading, use

peer guardian http://phoenixlabs.org/pg2/

it block most governemnt dept's or official bodies from accessing/tracking downloads to your pc.

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 12:22

They always say they will prosecute the "uploaders", but who are they? If I download a Torrent for example, other users will download from me, so am I an uploader? or do they mean the person who originally uploaded the tracker file?

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 12:35

if you use torrent you are an uploader and downloader, double whammy court case

other programs allow you to choose to upload, download or both so i hear

Although downloading is illegal, they concentrate on the uploders more.

Think of it as in you download 1 film/music file but your uploading it to possible hundreds of people and starting a chain.

[Deleted User] · 18/10/06 - 13:20

Some interesting reads:

Record industry uploads 8,000 lawsuits
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/17/ifpi_worldwide_filesharing_lawsuits/

But...

RIAA drops file sharing case
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/17/riaa_drops_case/

Then again...

Court rules against song-swappers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4653662.stm

Fight for you rights!

Fight for the right to copy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3584010.stm

Finglonga · 18/10/06 - 14:49

Mr Smooth wrote:

Yep its still illegal. ONly a matter of time before what happens in America will happen here.

I beter start building my collection up before they stop it then.

Echo1 · 18/10/06 - 16:13

Unless you upload a ton of stuff then the government wont be chasing your ass any time soon.

Master Ozzy · 18/10/06 - 16:35

I don't understand why people just don't use newsgroups to download. They're much, much faster than torrents and you're not uploading either. Iknow you have to pay, but it only costs about £3 a month.

nafanny29 · 19/10/06 - 11:39

If the UK was in any way serious about copyright theft they could arrest 1000s of people red handed selling fake DVDs in High Streets all over the country.

JJ_ · 19/10/06 - 14:38

OP, what you do beats the whole point of P2P. If everyone disabled uploading you wouldn't be able to download whatever you do download in the first place. You can get software which blocks packets sent to suspicious IP addresses, e.g. PeerGuardian. Keep one thing in mind, the RIAA does not have jurisdiction in the UK.