NOob Here!.....Is DOWNLOADING really illegal....I don't think it is!

I am trying to find out information on specific laws and what really is and isn't illegal.

As far as I know, downloading music/movies/etc.....isn't illegal, because I don't think anyone has ever been CRIMINALLY PROSECUTED for downloading music.

People have gone though CIVIL lawsuits....but that is far different from Illegal and having a criminal record. What is criminal and what is not?

Can anyone provide specific links to sources that can clear this up.

Cause as far as I know, a person can get in NO trouble for downloading.......a person can get in SOME TROUBLE/CIVIL for uploading...............and a person can only get in CRIMINAL TROUBLE for profiting off distributing.

Can someone who knows about this stuff, point me in the right direction.......it is hard to find info cause all that is out there is ILLEGAL.....which I am pretty sure is just a PR move by the big companies.

If you are in the US downloading alone is called, "Conspiracy To Commit Criminal Copyright Infringement" and it is a felony.

The MPAA/RIAA can not charge you with this, they are limited to Civil law. The charge of "Conspiracy To Commit Criminal Copyright Infringement" falls under criminal law and for the most part is filed by the FBI. These charges are almost completely limited to those in the upper levels of the world of internet piracy.

I googled "Conspiracy To Commit Criminal Copyright Infringement" and it appears to be something that the FBI charges people with who are involved in large organizations or distribution rings. I don't think it applies to a home user who is downloading the newest Nine Inch Nails album for their personal use.

For example, it appears that several people were charged by the FBI because they had over 25,000 copies of cds of music/movies and it was obvious that they had intent to distribute them.

Another group was charged because they were knowingly running a server and hosting a site that allowed hundreds of thousands of people to download copyrighted material.

So I don't think "Conspiracy To Commit Criminal Copyright Infringement" could at all apply to someone who is downloading........it would be very hard to prove some kind of Criminal Intent (where there is none) against a home user who downloads just for personal use.

Basically as long as you are just a casual downloader you SHOULD be fine. It is of course illegal however the gov. likes to make "examples" out of people and those are the cases you see in the news. They do it to try to sway people from doing it. In reality if they went after everyone who illegally downloads....well, everyone except my grandma would be facing some heavy fines.

Do it responsibly.....

additionally, depending on your ISP, excessive downloading can bring you up on their radar....that is more common.

The real question is...

Who cares? :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xbawksz

The real question is...

Who cares? :D

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thats true

:d

Almost guaranteed what your downloading is illegal.

it's still safer to turn off your p2p programs when you're not actively using them . . .

Well, if you ever did get into any trouble all you would have to do is go out to the store and buy what ever you downloaded

One Statement:
"The links are provided solely by this site's users. These BitTorrent files are meant for the distribution of backup files. By downloading the BitTorrent file, you are claiming that you own the original file."

Works with just about anything but movies still in theaters, so you may want to stay away from them.