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View Full Version : Torrents and getting caught...


pshreck
01-20-2005, 06:17 PM
Two years ago or so I was caught illegally downloading a movie. It was "The Warriors", a classic, but not worth the trouble it caused me. My university protected me, and somehow set up a deal with Paramount where I would just sign a form that I would delete the movie and never download from them again. I used Kazaa. About 2 months later, a kid from my highschool football team got busted with music, and had to pay 2k to 'settle'. He told me he also used Kazaa, but he also said he had downloaded roughyl 20k songs too...

So now... just about EVERYONE tells me its close to impossible to be caught using torrents... that basically someone would have to hire a private investigator just to follow me on the net and catch me... is this true? If I start using this, can I get caught?

hoyaboy1
01-20-2005, 06:22 PM
No. You are 1000 times more likely to be stopped for doing .5 MPH over the speed limit.

pshreck
01-20-2005, 06:24 PM
[ QUOTE ]
No. You are 1000 times more likely to be stopped for doing .5 MPH over the speed limit.

[/ QUOTE ]

But why... what is so inherently different about torrents vs. Napster and Kazaa?

stabn
01-20-2005, 06:24 PM
If you are still going to the same school i wouldn't touch torrents for now. If you aren't the likelyhood of you getting caught is greatly reduced.

Edit:

It's still wrong to do though.

hoyaboy1
01-20-2005, 06:26 PM
Way more decentralized

CrazyEyez
01-20-2005, 06:28 PM
How did you get caught d/l'ing that movie? It was just a random sting? How many had you d/l'd?
Curious.

pshreck
01-20-2005, 06:31 PM
[ QUOTE ]
How did you get caught d/l'ing that movie? It was just a random sting? How many had you d/l'd?
Curious.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had downloaded a lot in my opinion, but only like 30 in a year. I downloaded it one night. The next day my internet was shutdown and I had a call from the tech department. They were contacted by a law firm representing paramount, who had an ip address that had downloaded the movie from kazaa. It was the ip address for my room.

Lehigh was strong on protecting students, and never gave out my name and apparently had arrangements in these cases.

The IT guy told me if it had happened at home I would have been out several thousand bucks.

uw_madtown
01-20-2005, 08:06 PM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How did you get caught d/l'ing that movie? It was just a random sting? How many had you d/l'd?
Curious.

[/ QUOTE ]

I had downloaded a lot in my opinion, but only like 30 in a year. I downloaded it one night. The next day my internet was shutdown and I had a call from the tech department. They were contacted by a law firm representing paramount, who had an ip address that had downloaded the movie from kazaa. It was the ip address for my room.

Lehigh was strong on protecting students, and never gave out my name and apparently had arrangements in these cases.

The IT guy told me if it had happened at home I would have been out several thousand bucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

First mistake was that you allowed someone to download from you when using KaZaa. They can't nail you except by downloading part of the file from you, recording your IP, and verifying the file is their copyrighted material. At least, this is how they deal with file sharing services like KaZaa (I'm sure centralized FTP servers are a bit different).

As for torrents, you have to be cautious about it. Look into various protection options (a simple google search should help you find some forums discussing torrent use). I'd be hesitant to download movies or music online anymore. I stick to just recently aired television shows (it's like free TiVo, I swear). But if you take the right precautions and don't go overboard, you should be okay.

But it's like any risky behavior. No one can tell you there's no risk there. There very clearly IS a risk involved.

Evan
01-20-2005, 08:32 PM
How do you download movies with this thing? I need the kind of directions you'd give to a 4 year old.

Shajen
01-20-2005, 08:37 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Two years ago or so I was caught illegally downloading a movie. It was "The Warriors", a classic, but not worth the trouble it caused me. My university protected me, and somehow set up a deal with Paramount where I would just sign a form that I would delete the movie and never download from them again. I used Kazaa. About 2 months later, a kid from my highschool football team got busted with music, and had to pay 2k to 'settle'. He told me he also used Kazaa, but he also said he had downloaded roughyl 20k songs too...

So now... just about EVERYONE tells me its close to impossible to be caught using torrents... that basically someone would have to hire a private investigator just to follow me on the net and catch me... is this true? If I start using this, can I get caught?

[/ QUOTE ]

The question I'd ask myself is.....Is it worth it?

edtost
01-20-2005, 08:41 PM
step-by-step, this will be much easier over im.

Manimal
01-20-2005, 09:40 PM
You can get caught, but it is pretty unlikely. I've used a ton of torrents, for a ton of different types of material, and never had any problem.

On the other hand, one of my best friends got busted for using a Just Shoot Me torrent, and Cox (his ISP) shut him down. Ironically enough, it turns out that the torrent was legal (allegedly). He's the only person I've ever heard of getting busted for using a torrent. So, be careful.

Piz0wn0reD!!!!!!
01-20-2005, 09:42 PM
The safest way to xfer copywriten material is on the IRC. You can set it up so that you are actually protected under the electronic privacy act.