Danger with Bittorent.

Natty Bumppo

for about 2 years ive been easily downloading anime. ive had no remorse, i mean, i buy the licensed products afterwards.

this past week i owed my brother a favor and he asks me "download Lord of the Rings for me like you download your (stupid) anime." i hesitantly say 'ok'. i download it and we watch it. i then think for a second and before i know it i am downloading Kill Bill vol. 1 and 2. two movies i have been dying to see since they came out. i dont have money to buy the movies. i have applyed to MANY different jobs, but none have even called me for an interview. dont get me wrong, i am not useing the "i dont have money so i pirate things excuse". i will buy The Lord of the Rings and Kill Bill 1 and 2 when i get money, but i want to know:

is there more of a chance of me getting caught and put into jail or something for pirating american media? i mean, i really was hesitating because i was scared of getting caught. the United States seems to care more, and i really really really dont want to get caught.

i guess the question is: am i danger for downloading American Media? Should i stop?

i appreciate any replies.

Azegoroth

I'd say no. Usually they don't care about person X downloading something, what they want to catch are the one's running file servers. take The Pirate bay as an example, they got raided by the swedish police(Due to some pressure from the U.S goverment), the servers were confiscated, yet not a single of their downloaders got caught.

Basically the regular downloaders never get caught, just don't try selling the stuff you download, and you should be fine.

Demon Rin

yeah, You Definately Wont Get Jail time. They have Bigger fish to fry.
my Cousin wanted me to Download tons of Movies for him and I eventually got Caught for V for Vendetta.
They just had my ISP (Cox) shut off my service and I had to erase the file then call Cox to get it turned back on, they said if it happens 2 more times I'll get my internet shut off permanently.
Jail time was not mentioned ONCE

Caracal

There is a chance your ISP will threaton to cut off your internet connection even if you aren't caught. For example I used to download One Piece episodes in a house I once rented with some friends. After downloading about 60 episodes, the ISP contacted the admin, informing us that I was generating to much traffic due to my downloads (or something along those lines), and threatoned to cut off our internet if I didn't stop (I had already planned to anyway). Therefore don't assume you'll always "be in the clear".

On a side note remember that using bittorrent can take up alot of bandwidth. Therefore if there are other people on your network, it may take a while to do pretty much anything. For example in another house I rented, about three or four of the eleven people there downloaded, causing a large amount of slow downs. While it may be possible to change the network settings so data is sent straight to your computer, freeing up quite a bit of bandwidth, you have to bare this in mind when using bittorent, especally on a large network.

Throes

@Natty:

i dont have money to buy the movies. i have applied to MANY different jobs, but none have even called me for an interview.

Okay, first of all, the jobs don't call you back for the interview, you have to call them, ask about your application, then they will actually look at it. Employers don't care who you are if you never follow up on your application. With the next job you apply for, get a contact number, then in about a week, call back and ask about the status of your application, and state your name. That way they will actually look at your application instead of just tossing it into a file somewhere.

CosmicDebris

Yeah, that's true. If this is your first job and you have no experience, you have to really sell yourself and show your determination. Or find a job that doesn't have a lot of competition to get in. Try city/county jobs.

Anyway, no, you're not going to go to jail. At the very worst, you'll find that the sources you downloaded from got shut down, but that's not your fault.

Natty Bumppo

@Throes:

Okay, first of all, the jobs don't call you back for the interview, you have to call them, ask about your application, then they will actually look at it. Employers don't care who you are if you never follow up on your application. With the next job you apply for, get a contact number, then in about a week, call back and ask about the status of your application, and state your name. That way they will actually look at your application instead of just tossing it into a file somewhere.

well, according to snagajob.com thats what they say is best to do, to wait. if they havent called you in 3-4 days after youve applied, you can just give up.

i never thought of actually calling them, i guess its cause i have a REALLY deep deep deep deep fear of talking on the phone.

i really appreciate the tip, though.

Natty Bumppo

@CosmicDebris:

Yeah, that's true. If this is your first job and you have no experience, you have to really sell yourself and show your determination. Or find a job that doesn't have a lot of competition to get in. Try city/county jobs.

Anyway, no, you're not going to go to jail. At the very worst, you'll find that the sources you downloaded from got shut down, but that's not your fault.

heh, i dont think i am old enough to apply to city or county jobs. if i could, i probably would though.

and thanks to everyone for reading and replying.:happy:

CosmicDebris

It depends on the job, the city job that I have hires people as young as 15. It's the recreation program….but not all cities have programs like that.

omnichild

I am not saying to stop. But never assume you are safe. While yes they tend to go for the server hosts. They also go after the downloaders. I live in a small area. Someone in this area was just recently sued for illegally downloaded music and videos off the internet.

Throes

@Natty:

well, according to snagajob.com thats what they say is best to do, to wait. if they havent called you in 3-4 days after youve applied, you can just give up.

i never thought of actually calling them, i guess its cause i have a REALLY deep deep deep deep fear of talking on the phone.

i really appreciate the tip, though.

Yeah… You really need to follow up on your job. It's probably the most important thing to do. If you don't call back to say you're still interested, then they will just throw your application into another pile. Also, don't trust everything you read on an internet website, especially a dot-com website. My uncle, a very successful hotel manager, advised me to call back to follow up on my application. It works, trust me, after a full 2 weeks, I called back expressing interest, and I ended up getting the job, and I am scheduled for the third time this Friday. So take it from me, it helps GREATLY to follow up on an application, starting with the one you're most interested in.

Also, I had the same fear of talking to people on the phone. Just suck it up, and dial a few numbers. Once you get your foot in the door for an interview, you should be well on your way to getting hired, you just don't want to make yourself out to be an asshole.

CosmicDebris

omni has a point. While it is very, very unlikely anything will happen, it's not impossible. It's probably not a bad idea to keep your downloaded files on discs rather than on your computer. Seems to me that it would be a very difficult thing to prove. I don't download movies myself. Just One Piece fansubs and a little music here and there.

Natty Bumppo

@Throes:

Yeah… You really need to follow up on your job. It's probably the most important thing to do. If you don't call back to say you're still interested, then they will just throw your application into another pile. Also, don't trust everything you read on an internet website, especially a dot-com website. My uncle, a very successful hotel manager, advised me to call back to follow up on my application. It works, trust me, after a full 2 weeks, I called back expressing interest, and I ended up getting the job, and I am scheduled for the third time this Friday. So take it from me, it helps GREATLY to follow up on an application, starting with the one you're most interested in.

Also, I had the same fear of talking to people on the phone. Just suck it up, and dial a few numbers. Once you get your foot in the door for an interview, you should be well on your way to getting hired, you just don't want to make yourself out to be an asshole.

i see what you are saying. but i stutter so it tends to be harder to pick up the phone and dial numbers. i mean, i am not giving an excuse not to do it, i am just saying it tends to be harder to grab the courage, because i dont want to be hung up on (its happened MANY times before). i even get nervouse to call my grandma sometimes.

anyway, thanks for the great/awesome tip though. if it werent for you, i might have been unemployed for a LONG time. many thanks again.

captain usopp

send a little note or card in the mail then, to express your interest instead. I know someone who studders. It's frustrating to deal with. I wish people were more patient and understanding.

vinc120

What are you afraid of ? I downloaded many american movies without problems…
There's no way they can find you, they don't even know about that. Are you worried that much when you download a music ? Just watch your illegal copy and be happy.

captain usopp

there ARE ways for them to find you. The thing is, they usually don't care about the individual. There's always a risk when doing stuff, but Downloading stuff…I wouldn't worry about.

vinc120

Okay it's true, they can find you, but they won't even search for you even if they knew about that. With so many persons downloading movies, they won't search the persons who downloaded, they'll go for the "source" like it was said before. Anyway, it's really not something to be worried about.

Cr4zy

You can't get caught. Like Azegoroth said, the people running the servers get caught. Pirate Bay, my favorite place for torrents, was raided but I can still download from there. The police don't care anymore. Just make sure not to download crap out of Limewire or direct anime downloading. Serious trojan spywares and a chance, but very low, of you getting caught.

captain usopp

If you have an IP address, you can be found.
there's a difference between, can find, and want to find or, reason to find.

Seta Ginny

@Natty:

well, according to snagajob.com thats what they say is best to do, to wait. if they havent called you in 3-4 days after youve applied, you can just give up.

i never thought of actually calling them, i guess its cause i have a REALLY deep deep deep deep fear of talking on the phone.

i really appreciate the tip, though.

Off topic remark - That site really doesn't know what they're talking about. Every single job I have ever gotten has been from calling them back as much as possible without making a pest of myself. And not just calling, showing up in person if it is appropriate. No joke.

I think you'll be okay with the BTing. Maybe try renting movies though if you're that stressed about it. Ha, it probably takes less time to get to the video store than it does to download a torrent if you don't have a lot of seeders.

Local-chan

I dunno, I know somebody who was arrested for downloading, though it was their first offence so they pretty much got a slap on the wrist and told not to do it anymore.

Throes

@captain:

If you have an IP address, you can be found.
there's a difference between, can find, and want to find or, reason to find.

It's not a question of "IF" you have an IP address, everyone connected to the internet has an IP address, that's how the servers know where to send files to. Files can range from anything such as text to something like full DVDs! Either way, it is usually quicker, and more high quality, just to go to the store to buy a movie.

captain usopp

@Throes:

everyone connected to the internet has an IP address,

right. got my point?

Throes

@captain:

right. got my point?

Yeah, I know your point, I was just explaining for those who may not have understood. :happy:

stephen

Thread has been forwarded to RIAA!

I just set you up the bomb

CosmicDebris

Oh no, you have no chance to survive, make your time.

I think you have to be a real big time downloader to catch the attention of any authorities. Most likely there are other things you may be doing as well that would put up a red flag.

captain usopp

@Throes:

Yeah, I know your point, I was just explaining for those who may not have understood. :happy:

they can stay in the dark. I can laugh at them.

verbatim

I've got a friend in Virginia, and he uses bittorrent to download movies. A lot of movies. He showed me his binder and I swear he had at least 200 "pirated" movies on dvds. He said he's been doing this for a few years, and he doesn't give a flippin f**k about legality and authorites and all that crap. So far he hasn't been caught but I guess that's a good thing.