questioning legality of downloads please read

[tylanbo]

Yeah, limewire comes with a sharing license detector or w/e, you know the thing that says "limewire can't finda license for this file, download anyway? please respect your local copyright laws". Well I tried to do a search for music that had weedshare, then creative commons, and came with a list of results with no licenses! O_O

Well how in the world do I know if it's legal or not if nothing has a license attached to it. I dont want to get in trouble for piracy, and I am genuinely concerned.

[foolofthehill]

Well, how about using your common sense; if it is sold in a shop then it is most likely protected by copyright laws.

[tylanbo]

Yes, while that does make sense but then what would be the point of having limewire if all you can download is songs no longer sold in stores. Even old, crappy music is still sold in stores. So you are saying, basically,

by downloading anything good whatsoever you are committing copyright infringement (or at least possibly). How the world is this supposed to be true,

[foolofthehill]

You're reducing your assumption to songs. There are many other things that are shared between people; pictures, homemade vieoes, music from newcomer bands or singers, documents, free ebooks, etc.
What LW actually does is to offer people a way to connect from one computer to another (or many others). That's the concept of the program. Basically, you could see the modern messengers (msn/yahoo) as P2P programs as well (though they might work in a different way).
Regarding what is legal and not, well, it depends on which country you live in. In some countries you can share your songs (which you own already via a legally bought CD) with me, if I also have the same CD legally bought. And in case I do not have the CD legally bought, then it is still me who breaks the law and not you.

I guess the whole PR hike about how the music industry tries to get people like you and me for sharing files, which "they say" are protected by copyright laws, has brought the reality out of proportion.
Limewire alone has some 2-3 million users all over the world. Do you really believe that it is possible for them to go after any and all......
Do not misunderstand my point of view; I do not encourage you to break any law. I just want to put things in the right angle.
In the end it will be you deciding whether to download a certain file. It will be you deciding on whether to share any number of files. And that's the way with everything in life. Like the one who tries to get around some tax payments by stating some information in his favoure (which might not be true). Or driving the car above the speed limit......
Then punishment should fit the crime; as well the possibility of being caught....(but that's my personal point of view and does not reflect the opinion of the board owners here).

I guess you got my point anyway....

[AaronWalkhouse]

Getting back to the point. You don't get in trouble for downloads. The MAFIAA
cartels may not like it but are not going to bother you about it.

[tylanbo]

Originally Posted by AaronWalkhouse

Getting back to the point. You don't get in trouble for downloads. The MAFIAA
cartels may not like it but are not going to bother you about it.

ok this um doesnt make too much sense. mafiaa is that a real organization or what, or is this a joke? I got what the other guy said.

[AaronWalkhouse]

www.mafiaa.org

[tylanbo]

I went to that site, but there was nothing that said who would get in trouble for piracy. Let me explain. My thought was that the person who was uploading pirated materials would get in trouble, not the downloader. This may be wrong -.- but that's what I thought. Is that what you were saying when you stated that you wouldnt get in trouble for downloading?

thx again ^_^