It’s about damn time they started doing this, like everyone else it seems, I was under the impression this was legal for home. However, one I figured out that it is actually Illegal, I quitdoing it!!!!
This is only an assumtption, however, I am afriaid that I am correct; unlike most greedy self centered folk around today, I actually have these long forgotten set of “morals”, “eithics” and”values”, pretty sure a lot of you should look these words up, and actually understand what they mean, and if you’re not too far lost into self-centricity you may actually understand WHY people who put their hard work and time into their JOBS only to be dicked (intentionally or as it seems to me, mostly unintentionally) out of their EARNED Income.
This is, after all, how Celebrities make a living. Yes, they may be Famous and Rich (although there will be some point where even THEY can not afford to live, because at some time, if this continues unabated, IMO anyway, essentially at they will ALL just become Volunteers!
I absolutely do agree with the fact that Copywite Laws as written, due soley to the advent of Technology, are Archaic and nearly impossible to uniformly apply; they were written more to prevent Plagirism rather than monetary THEFT; these Laws should NOT be changed, but, in fact added to, at the very least to end the confusion and to once again protect the rights of Artists, and I use this term Boldly; as a Software Developer is today just as much of an Artist as a Writer is/was when these Laws were written.
As stated in the article; it is almsot impossible to determine if you are violating Copywrite Law, even with reaearch, for the reasons stated quite well in the above Article.
Add to the confusion, the wordings of the current Laws and the fact the again, IMO, most of the Isers of these services are more than likekely, unaware infact; that while using a Torrent Client is not Illegal, the content available through said Client may infact be “Protected” by Law.
Torrents sites also have much to do with the confsusion; as the Author nicely explained, by “buying a premium subscription” it is almost, while not(YOU have to read all the words in the Agreement not just the ones you are looking for!)implying that by doing so, infact you are, as everyone keeps saying “protected”, which I am sure most everyone assumes to mean: that by paying for the “Service”, this translates into “giving the Artists their owed payment for their WORK”; but, like explained againg perfectly by the Author, are in reality, only funding the Torrent Client’s functionabillity and lining some Web Debelopers Pockets.
I will however, add: the matter is further distored by the fact that at the bottom of some/most(if not all at this point; (has been awhile since I have checked, and will be never until I can verify), as I refuse to support these site even by providing them with AD Funding by creating a “hit” on said Websites, which in turn triggers a small payment to the Devloper of the Website for “Product Promotion Services”(if you are reading this for the correct reasons, keep that in mind as well)”Torrent Search Engines” actually show at the bottom of your Query(search results list) that “X ammount of content was removed due to MPAA
Violations (insert statute # here)”, which only means that someone caught them distributing THEIR work.
Hence the removal. In fact that statement, if interpreted correctly, means in reality “hey we got caught illegally providing Media to you and had stop until we can figure out how to not get caught again”. While the way it is worded and presented to users makes this an almost impossible interpretaion to reach without Legal Knowladge or Research, large ammounts it seems(which is how I found this Article).

Add to that: Laws are generally Vaguly written, intentionally(to allow JUDGES and JURRIES to independently and onjectively interpret the meaning of said law; therefore providing PROTECTION against Directed Legislation and in keeping with our Constitution (USA) The word of Law/Satutes as such is intended to be a form of a type of “Check/Balance” to prevent Laws from becoming one sided, biased or infact even “Illegal”(unconstitutional) in nature! NOT for the reason that I am assuming these “removals” are posted; false reassurenent ans feed, providing false “proof” that their service actually follows and endoforces CW Laws.
Why would they? They would lose “hits” and therefore Money…you get the picture thus far I am sure of this.
The fact that ISPs are giving their Users “Strikes”, in reality shows that yes, CW laws are very hard to interpert, but, that they should be evaluated by the User=”YOU”; again, proof of this is actually in the Documents everyone is pissed about!
Anyone every heard the old phrase “Three Strikes, Your Out”? It actually refers to the Law, not Baseball. As in, you are allowed to commit Two non-major, non-violent and in most cases this principal may be applied(ie: each diffrent TYPE of fellony you can commit twice, in most cases) and walk away with basically a slap on the wirst in comparision to the actual severity of the Crime.
This was done for Two reasons; First and foremost, as a chance for decent people who simply made a mistake, have a mental issue, or are willing to, to NOT do “it” again, the fact that you get TWO chances, at least, before they throw your ass in jail is honestly a gift; as one “Strike” should be enough to get the point across!
Fact of the matter is, you already get your “Three Stikes” from your ISPs, plus, they have gone ABOVE and BEYOND on the Fourth infration(aka Violation of The Law)by providing ACTUAL Education as to CW Laws and what exactly they are, mean, cover, were created for, and how to Violate and NOT Violate said laws, again remember this the Fourth time you have gotten caught breaking the law…ONLY because they and the judicial system undstand that, due to the fact that CW Laws ARE out of date AND confusing, even to Lawmakers at this point, I feel is the rationale behind their idea! Add to that the fact you get Two MORE chances after you have been correctly informed of the Law(s) and CONTINUE to break them, even then, they only allow themselves the OPTION of reporting you; not to the Authorities(depending on WTF you download anyway)but, rather than to the actual OWNERS of the products you have stollen, and even then, IT IS UP TO THE OWNERS of the work if you end up in court for Violations reported.
Peronally, I think if you are on this site reading this, unless you actually are moral and understand that there are REAL PEOPLE in this world besides yourself, or are just curious or unsure about the Laws, YOU ALREADY know what you are doing is wrong at the very least, and based on the amount of posts regarding how to “hide” using VPNs, so on so forth, coupled with the FACT that if you have already recieved a warning(mind you a warning is a warning), you not only already KNOW it’s wrong, but you already KNOW IT’S ILLEGAL!!!!
Add on to the fact that not only are you KNOWINGLY(as evidenced by this thread itself) breaking the law you “don’t understand”, you are ACTUALLY trying to “get away with it” and in reality all you are doing is adding to the list of possible Civil Actions that could be taken against you, and NOW you are actually commiting “real” crimes, yeah, ones with out the confusion of CW Laws: Conspiricy to commit Larsony(Grand Larsony, depending on what/how much you are at this point KNOWINGLY stealing), electronic theft, ID theft(by using Onion or such, because you are in reality actually only being routed through OTHER’s Servers, you are “stealing/paying some else to steal for you” the ID of the User of that server, Electronic Fraud(because you are trying to convince your ISP or whoever you think can’t figure out who or where you really are(WRONG in your assumption again and a good thing for many reasons), Interfering with a Civil/Criminal investigation you got your warnings, right?), and even the possiblility of some off the wall, but yet enforcable charges, depending on what is on the server/terminal you are “hiding though” therfore claiming to own(content included) even though you have no way of knowing what is on said server(however, still your responsiblity because you, after being made aware of the fact the “they know” you STILL continue to use!!!! How about STOP and don’t worry about it!!!! Seems like the right course of action to follow if you, like myself and many others have, once they finally figure out that it IS illegal; or/and in my case anyway, put youself in the Artists shoes.
For the record I am a Musician and would gladly and have GIVEN my work to people, because in my case, it’s not a JOB!!!! For most Artists however, their WORK(s) are their income…ever wonder why so many Celebrities are having to file for Bankrupcy or having to downgrade their EARNED lifestyle?!

I was told by someone, who I refuse to name(due to the fact that they are someone who has been in the Production/Preformance of the Recodered Arts for over 20 years and I’m sure would not appriciate a bunch hate mail from those they have watched DESTROY the Music Industry) when trying to starting a Recording Studio, “Before you waste your time, just remember, now a days, this is an act of love, not a career or way to support your family.”
-This is why i didn’t: I don’t need to eat out of a trash can, as well as my Artists after busting our asses to provide everyone with apparently Free HARD WORK and TIME and not to mention the money alone it takes to record, mix, produce, master. render. re-master, brand/promote and release an album, even for a well established Artist.
Just incase anyone is unaware; Musicians DO NOT make a living, or even close to, through Album sales and haven’t since Napster, it is all done through touring, which takes even Harder work and even more Time and can/has ruin their Relationships with their Families and caused Artist Suicides!!!!
Good thing is, no one has been able to figure out how to en-mass STEAL concert tickets or Authorized Merch yet(ok yeah, everyone knows how to steal a T-Shirt, but, Psychologically speaking, the vast majority WILL NOT steal Merch while at an Event for that Aritist. Reason being; a little thing called GUILT(also, the reason this thread is up; people looking for a justification to ROB Artists of their hard EARNED wages.).
Since it seems like everyone has become so self-entitled and so closed minded I have to drive my point home on an actual One to One Level(meaning if it doesn’t directly effect YOU, you/we don’t care or try to)…here goes, best I can do based on my profiling of almost everyone’s post(mind you I don’t or most likely don’t know you, if this is incorrect as applied to YOU(one, an individual, not the mass of posters; I am sorry if you are offended by my comments.) However if you are not offended my comments, you don’t fall into that group, so please, don’t try to convince yourself that you are offended if you really arn’t…what you would be doing is, again Psychologically Speaking, called “Deflection” this happens alot when people know they are wrong and when confronted with the fact that they are, the response is always either (false)offense to statements, anger at person making them, extreme defensivness, denial, and assumpton that the person making the statement is wrong; how do you think your parents knew you were lying as a kid?

Best way to One to One this on the internent is, and this applies to ALL of us, myself included: Imagine one day, YOU come up with amazing idea for a product/idea and have no idea how to create/market it. So, you enlist the help of an “Invention Submission Company”, without having your idea Copywritten as Intellectual Property first…Two, Three months go by and you hear nothing about your submission, assume it was not that good of an idea, brush it off and eventually stop thinking about it; jump ahead One Year; bored, broke and wondering how you are going to make it until whatever type of Check you are waiting for arrives, and you just happen to see YOUR INVENTION on TV for sale at $20 a unit, you absolutely are going to be pissed and immediatly try to figure out how to sue wherever your submitted your idea to…problem is, you can’t or atleast not so and win, because in reality, YOU(because the idea was never Capywritten as your, you gave it to the Company, and most likely paid to do so, YOU, IN THIS CASE ANYWAY have no right to ANY compensation for your idea, beacuse, YOU GAVE IT TO THEM!!!!

Now, HERE IS THE IMPORTAINT PART: take same feelings you have about not getting paid for “YOUR” theoretical idea, which in reality stopped being yours once you sent it some where w/o it being copywritten, apply those feelings to Artists; who do, have and will continue to Copywite their work(“ideas”)to make sure this doesn’t happen to them, hence the reason for their anger, you ARE robbing them!!!!
Just be thankful, most Artists are also the type of people who for the most part wouldn’t even mind if you downloaded their Work, except for the fact that they put THEIR time, effort and money into creating that FOR YOU. I think it would be appropriate to Pay them for their Work just as you Pay the Chef at a nice place to eat, by simply paying the Bill your Server leaves you.

I am right along aside everyone in the fact that, no, I don’t own a CD player, and yes, electronic storage or enjoyment of Music IS the new way of things, however this does NOT make it free or OK to steal it.
Personally, I hate iTunes and refuse to use that service to PAY for the music I listen to and enjoy on a daily basis, not because of the Price, but because of limited content. I chose to use Spotify Premium to PAY the Artists and Discover more to either PAY by listening to their Tracks(this is done automatically w/no extra charge) or to figure out I’m not so into(keep in mind, that Artist still was paid royalties for me listening to their track even though I didn’t do anything other than listen) I can stream and sync music to mulitiple devices, I can, as long as I continue to pay the $10 a month for the Premium service, use the service Offline also!!!! If Sportify,
if not your taste,
pick one there are many other providers like them and all only cost around $10 a month for UNLIMITED service, assured quality, all while PAYING THE ARTISTS ROYALTIES THEY ARE OWED…how muc do those VPN and Hide me this and cover my ass Services cost a month? Most likely more than $10!
They even have the same Services for Movies, TV Shows, Games and anything elae you could, before now, justify to yourself to STEAL, it just takes more effort than clicking the “Steal”, sorry “Magnet” link on a Torrent site, but, I’m pretty sure you all can handle it…remember everyone there was a point in time when Technology didn’t exist and humans had to put forth thought and effort into problem sovling, I have faith we can ALL handle it again!

Remember: Creating any type of Art(music, images, movies. books, media of anytype infact; takes SKILL, which is why YOU are not an Artist, just a common criminal, depriving Hard working Artists of their livelyhood, that’s all, no biggie…right? I’m sure you would be fine if you went to Work for Two Weeks and your Paycheck never came, wouldn’t bother you, you would just let it go AND rightnback to work the next day, then knowing, you may never get paid for what you are doing, I know damn well I would NOT be OK with that, and if you think/claim you would, I won’t call Bullshit, but, I will ask you to try this: take the next Check you get and BURN IT! Now, if you are OK with doing that, by all means Download away, as you are onveously a liar(but, yet still a theif.) If you are NOT OK with that concept, get away from your Computer, remove head from Ass,
and re-evaluate your way if thinking, because in that case you are not only a theif, but also, a hippocrate and a liar to boot!

****PS: If you still it’s OK, legal or “cool”, or worse yet; that you “arn’t hurting anyone so even it’s Illegal, I don’t care”; just ponder this, the day Paul Walker passed away, his Studio Announced the release of a F+F6 Special Edition of which most, if not all of the proceeds(money people spent to BUY the Movie)would go to either Paul’s Family or to his many Charities, right…yes! OK, here is the one thing, if any, from what I have said you taken in…just think about this for a Second then ask; how many people downloaded that “Special Edition”?
Yes, unfortunatly Paul Walker is gone, someone who I’m sure you claimed to like and were sooooo saddened by his passing. But, how many of you actually supported his family and charity work (by BUYING the Film)something he was more passionate about than Acting or even Cars(which is saying a lot, unless you knew the REAL Man he was)and how many of you just decided to Download the “Special”,
and I only quote the word Special here because it was and is…For once a Production Studio has found it in their hearts to Donate their Time, Efforts and Money(porential imcome earned from LEGITIMATE sales), did you?
I admit, I had never seen the film and of course my buddy downloaded it right away, again blown away by Bro’s (Paul’s) preformance…but, only because I knew I was going to AND DID(most importaint part)go out the day the Film was officially released and bought Two copies on Blu-Ray, and one on DVD, however, I actually waited to watch it!
Just for the record; I HAD NO JOB AT THE TIME, and have yet to own and most likely will not ever own a Blu-Ray Player, and NO, I did NOT return them, infact I have never even opened them! (Obveously I opened the DVD, just can’t see spending the $ on a Blu-Ray player when I’m half blind anyway). Anyone else consider doing that FOR PAUL, or to contiunue his Legacy of caring and generosity?
I would assume maybe One or Two of you, now out of those Two(me not included), who didn’t Sell/Return(or attempt to)their Copies of the Film????
This statement has nothing to do with me thinking that I was/am better in anyway than anyone else for doing that, as we ARE ALL the same!
However, I really would beg of you to think about my words FIRST, before you hit the “Rob This Artist” button ever again.

Thank you for your valuable time,
-eK’14

Not in Australia. High court ruled that ISPs are not bound by law to provide customer details related to an IP address.

http://m.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/iinet-wins-landmark-copyright-case/story-e6frgakx-1226334090530

Your house must be pretty boring.