My only issue with Downloading is that the poeple who are getting "screwed" are pople who already have engh money for their family never to have to ever work again, its basically the greedy showing just how greedy it is, and lets face it its a monster and it will NEVER stop soo poeple will find international law loop holes and host their stuff in a country with no laws, they are waisting their money and instead of embraceing it that are fighting it costing them selves millions upon millions of dollars be greedy.

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Well actually, for the issue of CDs being expensive and only having one or two songs you like, you can always go to the iTunes store to download those few songs. And they're only 99 cents each, that saves you a whole lot.

That little bit of money in exchange for hassle-free ownership of the songs, is pretty worth it I think. Plus I like iTunes.

And if you want an audio CD you can listen to in the car or something, you can always burn a CD of all your favourite songs using iTunes too.

Problem solved, innit?

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It is VERY Illegal but they cant/ wont do anything abou tit (Yet....) So ill continue to use!

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NO. LimeWire or any other p2p program is NOT illegal.
Many have tried to make a law against them, but they are still not illegal, and I doubt they will be.

As I said, the p2p programs itself are not illegal. It's just like saying that Microsoft Word is illegal because someone is writing something against the law on it.

However, downloading copyrighted material (like music, movies or applications) from these programs is illegal.

So, people can of course share their own songs that they have made if they want to, but you are not allowed to download files that are copyrighted.

So, if you're using a p2p program for downloading softwares like Photoshop, Microsoft Office, GTA San Andreas, or films like The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Mission Impossible, or songs by Michael Jackson or something similar, you're doing something illegal. If you're not downloading anything, or only download files you know are legal, there's no problem at all in using p2p programs.

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On the legalities surrounding the downloading of music (or any other copyrighted content) from the Internet - it is illegal, end of story. Regardless of whether or not you agree with it, you are not allowed to do so without permission from the rights holders. If a record company wants to charge you $250 (which they obviously don't, but in theory) for an audio CD, then they have every right to do so, because it's their legal property - and under no circumstances are you allowed to download unauthorised versions of that CD or any tracks from that CD just because the CD itself is too expensive. Saying that you think you should be able to download it just because you think the companies charge too much for it is ludicrous - should I be able to murder people because I feel the government's restrictions are too tight? Not the best of comparisons, but the law is the law, and we have to follow it.


The companies make peer to peer programs for one reason and one reason only - to make money. Although 'hacked' or unauthorised versions of P2P programs pop up all the time (such as Kazaa Lite on the old Fastrack network, for example), the real programs usually contain some form of advertising, which earns the creators a profit. Think of gun manufacturers - they may face ethical or moral issues over creating firearms which could be used illegaly, but as you are not forcing you to partake in such activities, it is not their fault or responsibility. Likewise, authors of programs such as Limewire are under no obligation to stop creating such software, as they are not doing so with the intention of providing access to illegally distributed content.


'They' care. 'They' care a great deal. Try searching Google for '[http://www.google.com/search?q=riaa]RIAA[/url]' - you're likely to find multiple lawsuits and other legal proceedings they have taken against people illegally obtaining or distributing copyrighted content (there was one case a while ago where a 12 year old was successfully sued for downloading thousands of MP3s, even though she pleaded ignorance). So 'they' do care, and 'they' are ruthless. Even if you have not personally been affected (yet...).


Not entirely true. There are legal versions of peer to peer programs, but there are also illegal versions. The commercial versions will nearly always be legal, but ther are exceptions (remember the original Napster?). You have to be careful when using 'alternative' peer to peer clients, as you may be doing so illegally (again, Kazaa Lite comes to mind - I don't know exactly whether or not that was illegal, but Sharman Networks certainly didn't like it).

 

 

 

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No, all p2p programs are legal. They are made for the purpose of sharing files, such as work documents. People take advantage. When Sharman Networks did kazaa, they had a version you pay for, JUST TO GET RID OF THE ADS. Because you pay or not for a filesharing program does not make it legal or not. Napster and Itunes are more of shops, not filesharing, and they are only for media. Emule and DC++ are filesharing, and it's legal, unless you are downloading "warez" and "music"(unless the music is..lets say made by a friend, they sung it, or whatever) and movies and such. That's why only the major networks are getting hit now because people don't understand their purpose. Many companies rely on some sort of filesharing program to spread files around the company.

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No, they are not. And whether or not you pay for it has absolutely nothing to do with legality. The actual sharing of files with them is legal - but using the program itself can be illegal, if it is using patented (?) or otherwise protected services which the owning company has not authorised. It may not always be breaking the law, per se, but it can lead to trouble.

Napster today is nothing like what Napster was a few years ago. I am aware that now they simply sell media, but originally, it was for freely sharing music on a peer-to-peer basis, such as Kazaa is commonly used for today. The difference, however, was that files were actually stored on Napster's servers (as opposed to most peer to peer networks now, where they only store lists of files and users who have them), which lead to it's downfall.

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If file sharing becomes illegal, then basically, the whole internet has to be shutdown as everyone is of course 'sharing' files which means, everyone would be breaking the law.

Limewire is a p2p network where people share their photos and files with everyone else.

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As amhso said, all p2p programs are legal. It is just what you use it to that can be illegal. So, Napster wasn't really a p2p program if the files was stored on their servers. And THAT is of course against the law.

But p2p is just programs made for sharing, and there is nothing illegal about it. It is just like saying that the whole Internet is illegal, because there is illegal stuff on it. There's lots of legal stuff on p2p programs, but also lots of illegal, but it doesn't mean that the program itself is illegal.

Since napster stored the illegal files on their servers, they had to shut down (Just like if you download illegal files from p2p networks, you're doing something illegal). So Napster is not a good example, since it's not a real p2p network.

Also, Limewire doesn't work like Napster did.

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I have a good example (merge this into my other post)

You can download serial keys for softwares, like Microsoft Office, Photoshop and games. You normally open them in Notepad or Word (most likely, you won't need word to open the serial key for Office ).
So, Notepad/Word is used illegally. But are the programs illegal? NO. Of course not.

Because p2p programs/networks can be used for illegal things doesn't mean that the program is illegal!

I hope you understand what the difference between Napster and other p2p programs is (and why Napster is illegal, and not the other programs), if not, I'll tell you.

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