Torrenting, downloading, pirating etc.

[Veovis]

Up until now I've been a good little consumer, legitimately purchasing all the music and videos I own. Lately though, I've been on hard times and I was considering partaking in a little "yo-ho-ho" if you know what I mean. My question is what's the worst that could happen prosecution-wise if I only download and don't distribute?

I really can't afford to fuck up my life now, because it's pretty fucked up already. Any advice?

[NewLeft]

You can go to jail for up to a year or get fined half a million in extreme cases.

I use Filestubes by the way. Great for finding creative commons, ya know..

If you're really paranoid, then get someone else to do the dirty work. I once pirated an entire movie (it was a public domain, I swear) using free wifi. It's a terrible idea, you're better off doing it on your own.

[Ocean Seal]

Up until now I've been a good little consumer, legitimately purchasing all the music and videos I own. Lately though, I've been on hard times and I was considering partaking in a little "yo-ho-ho" if you know what I mean. My question is what's the worst that could happen prosecution-wise if I only download and don't distribute?

I really can't afford to fuck up my life now, because it's pretty fucked up already. Any advice?
If you really are scared try downloading in a public cafe or go ask any of the anony-weirdos for tips on how to download your stuff securely. There is no foolproof way to do it, but its not about being faster than the bear, but rather faster than the slowest person. If you protect yourself a little, you are much harder to catch.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Basically nothings going to happen to you.

You definitely want to be careful if you're recording, hosting or distributing material that you don't own, though.

[Veovis]

Basically nothings going to happen to you.

You definitely want to be careful if you're recording, hosting or distributing material that you don't own, though.

No, no distributing. I know better than that.

[Decolonize The Left]

Download a torrent program, then simply search for whatever you want with "torrent download" after it and go at it. If you're concerned about privacy you can use Tor but it will slow your dl speed quite a bit. You can also search through Scroogle (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/scroogle-ssl-search/)to avoid Google's all-seeing eye.

- August

[workersadvocate]

Doesn't everybody do this, and that's why the media companies are freaking out and demanding anti-piracy action?

[X5N]

Download a program like uTorrent or Transmission.

Then, be sure to update your block-list and set it so that it does not "seed," or upload in other words.

And delete the .torrent file after you're done.

I would advise staying away from recent films and music, as well. The trackers or whatever for these are more likely to have snitches who will alert those who are concerned. If you download something like a torrent of Good Eats season one, nobody is likely to bother.

And, from what I hear, you just get a letter from your ISP if you get caught. But I guess it depends on who you fuck with.

[Winkers Fons]

I've downloaded a couple terabytes of media in the past few years without any trouble. However I do know people who have received letters from their isps. I don't really download the latest movies and pop songs so I guess I mostly go under the radar.

Just be careful what you download and you should be fine. So many people do it that your chances of getting caught are very slim.

[danyboy27]

I dont know if its such a good idea to talk about these things over an internet forum.

On another note, you got more chance of being hit by a car than getting caught.

[#FF0000]

if one were to pirate something

they would probably want to get peerblock (http://www.peerblock.com/) for protection and uTorrent to actually download the torrent files.

if one were to do that.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

I highly suggest Deluge (http://deluge-torrent.org/) as a torrent client (software). When you install it, go into the settings, go to Plugins, and enable the Blocklist (check the box next to it in the list). Then go to the newly created 'Blocklist' settings page and change 'nipfilter' in the web address to 'pipfilter'. Leave everything else, including the .tar.gz or whatever after 'pipfilter' the same. Then tell it to update on startup, and update every 1 day.

This is an internal blocklist set to 'Paranoid'. No extra software to download and nothing to download. Updates automatically.

I'd post screenshots to help but I only pirate on my home computer. I'm away and using my netbook.


I dont know if its such a good idea to talk about these things over an internet forum.

On another note, you got more chance of being hit by a car than getting caught.
I've been hit by a car before. I don't like those odds :scared:

[The Stalinator]

So.. half my Sims 3 discs are missing, the other half won't work when I install them. I have the base game only. Anyone know of a good crack I can find with relatively simple instructions, etc etc?

I was also looking for a TS2 crack because quite frankly I think TS3 blows and the custom content possibilities are extremely limited. So if someone could help me out, that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

[ellipsis]

New Stick for ALL discussion related to torrenting, downloading, pirating etc.

MERGING THREADS

[PC LOAD LETTER]

So.. half my Sims 3 discs are missing, the other half won't work when I install them. I have the base game only. Anyone know of a good crack I can find with relatively simple instructions, etc etc?

I was also looking for a TS2 crack because quite frankly I think TS3 blows and the custom content possibilities are extremely limited. So if someone could help me out, that would be great.

Thanks in advance.
Specific requests for sourcing copyrighted material could bring unwanted action against RevLeft. Look at what happened to mininova, megaupload, suprnova, among others.

I'm all for software piracy, but this stuff needs to be requested in private because of possible legal repercussions.

[Veovis]

Maybe this should be moved to the members-only section?

[The Stalinator]

Specific requests for sourcing copyrighted material could bring unwanted action against RevLeft. Look at what happened to mininova, megaupload, suprnova, among others.

I'm all for software piracy, but this stuff needs to be requested in private because of possible legal repercussions.

Sorry. Okay, I wasn't sure where to ask.

[znk666]

Depends where you live.
I've been doing it for years,and so far there were no consequences.

[Yugo45]

Uh.. Why is so many people paranoid about pirating? Do people where you live (USA?) often get arrested/sued for pirating? Or are you just scared because you never did it before?

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Uh.. Why is so many people paranoid about pirating? Do people where you live (USA?) often get arrested/sued for pirating? Or are you just scared because you never did it before?
Yes. But not for downloading, mostly for sharing. And RevLeft could be targeted for takedown if requests for copyrighted material are allowed. There is tons of precedent for this and most companies will comply without a second's thought.

Personally, I've been pirating music, movies, and software for at least ten years and have never received a letter from my ISP. Which is what they do here. Generally, after 3 letters, you're cut off from using them to get internet access.

[Zav]

They won't come after you unless the media you pirate is 'valued' at a hundred thousand dollars or so. If you're just downloading movies and songs, no one will care. The fines and warnings are a smokescreen designed to make people pay for what should be and is free. I would advise torrenting, as you can share the media with everyone else downloading, which is how media will likely be shared in a Communist society, plus you won't have to worry about making money for some megacorp, like Megaupload, or them selling your information to the police. If you're using Windows, download Frostwire. Transmission comes with an Ubuntu installation. The Pirate Bay is one of the best torrent hosting sites.

http://www.frostwire.com/
[/URL][URL]http://thepiratebay.org/ (http://www.revleft.com/vb/thepiratebay.org/)

[28350]

Torrents people get caught for are recent releases.
So if you want that new album or movie, just wait a bit.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Torrents people get caught for are recent releases.
So if you want that new album or movie, just wait a bit.
I'll add to this and say if you're unsure, read the comments. If I see that someone received a letter for downloading that specific release recently, I skip over it and find another release (or just don't download X file).

Although, I do wish I had the complete The X Files.

[Decolonize The Left]

We should have one post on internet safety which should include information about pirating music/movies etc...

- August

[The Old Man from Scene 24]

There are some closed-source games that I would like to modify. Does anyone know of a method to 'break in' to the source code of software? I am a moderate programmer in various languages. I was thinking that I may be able to open something with visual studio...

[NewLeft]

There are some closed-source games that I would like to modify. Does anyone know of a method to 'break in' to the source code of software? I am a moderate programmer in various languages. I was thinking that I may be able to open something with visual studio...

Do you know what compiler they used?

[The Old Man from Scene 24]

Do you know what compiler they used?

I'll try to find out.

[Shotgun Opera]

Uh.. Why is so many people paranoid about pirating? Do people where you live (USA?) often get arrested/sued for pirating? Or are you just scared because you never did it before?
Media companies in the US are highly interested in not letting people download things.

There is a woman who was fined almost two million US dollars for downloading 25 songs. Granted that woman had her fine reduced to ~$50,000 but that's still fifty-fucking-grand that she will, most likely, never be able to fully pay.

She'd have gotten in less trouble had she shoplifted the CDs that the songs she downloaded came from out of a store.

This doesnt happen often, but the fact that it happens at all to people who download make people nervous. Which, frankly, is what media companies want.

What usually happens is you get a few letters from your ISP telling you to knock it off. If you get truly pinched, you'll be approached by a representative of one of the big media conglomerates who owned whatever you downloaded and they'll offer you a settlement of a few thousand dollars in exchange for not pressing charges and taking you to court.

The sad thing is it's cheaper to take the settlement because, according to the law, downloading media you didnt pay for is illegal. These companies have FAR more legal power than you'll ever have and they can afford to stay in court for years and ruin your life.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

There are some closed-source games that I would like to modify. Does anyone know of a method to 'break in' to the source code of software? I am a moderate programmer in various languages. I was thinking that I may be able to open something with visual studio...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OllyDbg
http://boomerang.sourceforge.net/
http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/d10resourceeditor.htm

You'll need to have some experience in using hex editors and debuggers. Along with experience in x86/x86_64 assembly language.

When Windows 98/98SE/ME was around, Resource Hacker ("ResHack", predecessor to that third link XN Resource Editor) was popular for gimmicky stuff like changing the start menu button.

[workersadvocate]

Comrades, I doubt this is just a little bump in the road for the internet, but rather that the internet now is finished as any sort of freer medium of mass comunication.
That has consequences for political websites like this one, as well as for file sharing. Privacy online now is dead.

We need a new independent means of communication which no ruling class on earth could shut down or unmask its users. We need it very soon.

[runequester]

Im going to go ahead and be the dissenting opinion.

Pirating is not "leftist".

Don't get me wrong. Copyright and patents are things we should oppose and abolish.

Supporting independent creation, open source and non-encumbered art, software, music and games has a lot more weight.


Playing MW2 on your pirated copy of windows 7 still makes you a consumer. You just aren't paying for the consumption this particular instant.