Is it legal to download nzbs?

[beansis]

As the title stated, im curious if there are any copyright consequences to downloading the nzb files. To my knowledge they are simply index files and should be irrelevant to groups like the RIAA, but I just to make sure.
Also I would like to know if there is any significant difference between .nzb and .torrent files, aside from the protocol

Tanks . . .

[CorvetteDude24]

There is no way an nzb could be argued in a court of law as illegal, nor could one be sued for copyright infringement. I would say an nzb is similar to a .torrent in the sense that they're both "roadmaps" to information, and not the information itself.

[Rart]

Yea there's no way downloading only the ".nzb" would be illegal. It's like a set of directions. Even downloading the content wouldn't be illegal if you actually legally owned it, cause thats all we download ;)

[SonsOfLiberty]

FTD has a case against them for the very same thing....it inks to copyrighted material one way or another, same a torrent/ed2k file.

[beansis]

FTD has a case against them for the very same thing....it inks to copyrighted material one way or another, same a torrent/ed2k file.

but since it links to copyrighted content, could you possibly get in trouble if you download nzbs on a monitored network, and then SSL the actual files/data

[djkemp1]

so if its illegal, would it be best for FST (this site) to stop offering NZBS as surely this site could get in trouble for hosting them couldn't they?

[Rart]

so if its illegal, would it be best for FST (this site) to stop offering NZBS as surely this site could get in trouble for hosting them couldn't they?

I may be wrong but I thought I saw earlier that tesco may have implemented a system where the site itself doesn't directly store the nzb.



FTD has a case against them for the very same thing....it inks to copyrighted material one way or another, same a torrent/ed2k file.

but since it links to copyrighted content, could you possibly get in trouble if you download nzbs on a monitored network, and then SSL the actual files/data

I think that usenet providers keep logs and they are required by law to hand it over if there is a warrant. But unless like you're some international criminal or you're a uploader, I really doubt they would would spend any effort trying to find you.

[Hombre]

yes, it is illegal because it points to copyrighted material. they're exactly like a .torrent

[bonkers]

there like a torrent but much cleaner and quicker so better all round in my opinion and you dont have to seed to recieve !!!!!

[captive]

they are just after the big fish, the sites themselves, not us little guys.

[SonsOfLiberty]

Yeah and child porno, bad bad bad bad stuff...and the big big big fish, people who make money off this, eg NZBMatrix, sites like that, and people who upload oDay games and movies, see, the good thing about torrents are, that all the attention is to them.

Download just the .nzb file is not illegal, if you downlaod the content it points to, that's illegal, if it's copyrighted, if its' just a program with a crack and you don't use the crack, then that wouldn't be illegal,but if you download the .nzb file and then load that nzb and download say Star Trek, yes illegal....There is no law "yet" regarding this kind fo thing, it's still a grey area.

[djkemp1]

ah i see, so your saying that FST is perfectly safe as at the moment NZBs are ok?

[TrollinThunder]

Hosting nzbs is probably unlawful in most countries, just like .torrent files. The point just hasn't come up properly in a court case or been raised by any legislatures as far as I'm aware. Sure people will argue it the other way and there are some decent points, but if you thought like the establishment does, then you'd come out the other way.

I believe some Dutch sites were pressured into removing all nzbs and are now just spotting forums.

And by the way, you're not allowed to download files you own. Maybe if it was your backup, but then you've republished it for the rest of the world anyway, so again you're stuck. Also, a crack is a circumvention of technological copyright protection measures and is an additional problem, but downloading or making available the copyrighted application is unlawful on its own.

[wHoMe]

Downloading from usenet is probably the safest way to download anything, most news servers do not log what is uploaded or downloaded from their servers by their users you only have to read their policy to see this, the only people that can see what your downloading is your ISP unless your using an encrypted service

How would they justify prosecuting anyone for downloading while at the same time leaving a company like giganews alone who have all this content on their servers

As far as I know the only place that has shut from legal pressure was NZB-Zone.com a great site shame its gone

Anyway its two easy for them to catch people using P2P any monkey with a client can sit there logging ip's all day long with little or no effort in fact I know they use modified BT clients that do it for them and it does a whois look up and logs the lot :sick:

Downloading an NZB is proof of nothing :)

[NZBGrabit]

Yeah and child porno, bad bad bad bad stuff...and the big big big fish, people who make money off this, eg NZBMatrix, sites like that

can i ask what you are insinuating with this statement putting nzb sites in the same sentence as child porn ???