Hello,

Maybe. Maybe not. I stay away from illegal software because it is wrong to have it.

What might be more interesting is if a law came through BANNING the ip numbers of Sweden onto your country's network. Traffic could not get through, and well, the stuff would be inaccessable.

Granted, that is an extreme longshot view of it, but it is not impossible.

Christian

and it's what I'd likely do if I were selling software online...
Not just ban sales to countries which don't protect my rights but find ways to prevent my product from being used in those countries (IP checks to block out any IP number registered there, check on OS language to prevent it from being run on localised machines there, etc. etc.). Can't be airtight but would make it a lot harder for the pirates.

But the problem is how do you obtain the ip legally? I mean, isn't it legal to download illegal goods but illegal to share those goods? I know that's weird but I thought that's how it went. In that case what if the user didn't share? You could only obtain sufficent evidence by hacking, right? And that would cause a countersuit.

I bet I didn't make much sense!

I wouldn't touch those torrents with a 10-foot pole! How do you know they are safe to install on your computer? For all you know those files are flooded with viruses, worms, etc.

Its only legal to share files if the original autor gives you permission (e.g. license) to do so. Shareware and freeware are normally shipped with a license agreement that specifically states you may give the software to whoever you want. If the license doesn't state that, then it is illegal to get the software unless you spend you hard-earned money for it. Companies are not in the business of giving stuff away, they like to make a profit just like you and I. You wouldn't like it very much either if you wrote a program that everybody wants and that a lot of people steal by downloading free illegal copies of it. The only way to keep companies improving their software is for consumers to buy it, not steal it.

Nope, that's not technically correct. The act of downloading might not itself be illegal, but the use of downloaded goods, if that use breaches copyright and/or user license terms, is clearly illegal. You only need to use it, not share it! In many places, the possession of such downloaded goods is also illegal. In other words, you may not have broken the law by performing the download, but you might well be breaking the law by retaining it after you've done so.

And even the act of downloading could be seen as aiding criminal operations which in many places is itself a crime.
Certainly the linking to and promotion of a criminal service is a crime.

That's what I was meaning. I said it's weird because you can download it possibly legally, but once you have it it's illegal...That doesn't make much sense to me though. Why would it be legal to download, but once you obtain it it's illegal? I mean, shouldn't it be illegal to download?

Commonsense would tell you so, but practically making the act of downloading illegal would be impossible to police. Far more practical to simply make the possesion of illicit goods illegal, and leave it at that

Are most of what is on piratebay.com or other bit torrent sites just people filming the movie while in the theater? Who would want that? The risk just doesn't seem worth it.

But my questions are more related to the site owners who take the risk and how do they stand to make any gain? Once again all I see is risk. While it may have been novel and neat for these guys to "get away with" sharing DVD and movie torrent downloads, they must know that a possible very bad ending is lurking across the oceans back in hollywood.