Techsurvivors

Archives => 2009 => Topic started by: Francine Eisner on January 22, 2009, 08:35:56 AM

Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Francine Eisner on January 22, 2009, 08:35:56 AM: http://www.free-tv-video-online.info/inter...vies/index.html
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Paddy on January 22, 2009, 01:55:50 PM: Legal? Downloading commercially available movies and TV shows from Limewire? (Because that's where all these links will ultimately lead)

Um...no.

I'd be willing to bet that 99.9% of what is shared via peer-to-peer networks is NOT legal and much of it is virus-laden and/or poor quality to boot. The legitimate uses of peer-to-peer networks (Linux distros and other open source software etc. for instance) probably comprise a miniscule portion of the traffic.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: tacit on January 23, 2009, 12:47:52 AM: Is the Web site itself legal? Yes. You can not find any TV shows on that Web site. It only lists links to other sites that let you download them by Limewire. Also, the site is not in the United States. It's hosted in the Netherlands, where American law does not apply.

Is it legal to download copyrighted TV shows?Like Paddy said, no.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Buck on January 25, 2009, 10:27:58 AM: Ummmm. Google: freemovies and watch what one gets.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Paddy on January 25, 2009, 12:29:42 PM: If you do that, Buck, what you get falls into one of three categories:

1. Completely illegal downloads of copyrighted material
2. Downloads of material that is in the public domain (ie: old movies where the copyright has expired)
3. Downloads of material that is copyrighted, but whose owner is permitting free downloads (ie: some documentaries etc.)

Generally, there is no free lunch.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Xairbusdriver on January 25, 2009, 04:45:41 PM: QUOTE
there is no free lunch.
OK, I'll settle for breakfast!
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Mrious_be on January 25, 2009, 05:18:59 PM: QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Jan 25 2009, 10:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE
there is no free lunch.
OK, I'll settle for breakfast!

Next up: the sausages!
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Buck on January 29, 2009, 06:09:09 AM: One can watch these movies free while they remain on the server w/out downloading. Is this illegal?
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Paddy on January 29, 2009, 08:36:25 AM: Buck, I don't know which site you're referring to. As I noted above, the only legally available material falls into either category 2 or 3 above, whether it's streamed or available for download. The fact that it's streamed (remains on the server) doesn't inherently make it legal.

If it's a recently released (commercial release) movie that you'd either have to go to the movie theatre to see or rent a DVD or pay for at the iTunes store and it's being streamed for free on some site, you can bet that it's NOT legal. If it's a recently released movie that is still in the movie theaters and hasn't even been released to DVD, then you KNOW it's illegal and that the streaming copy has been obtained by either recording the movie in a movie theater with a video camera (yes, people do this) or it's a completely illegal copy of a reviewer's DVD or similar. Either way, it will be low-quality, low res.

Usually, you'll find that streamed new movies are rapidly removed from the servers; the host sites turn a blind eye until someone demands removal. They tend to have terms of service that SAY they abide by all copyright laws etc., but it would appear that this is true only if someone's keeping them honest. I wouldn't be surprised if the movie distributors have teams of people who do nothing but root out all the illegal downloads popping up all over the place every day like a so many bad mushrooms. And that goes for both streaming and downloading.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Buck on January 30, 2009, 12:21:01 AM: Man! There are multitudes of free movie sites out there.
One need only Google: freemovies. Thanks for clearing it up and setting us straight on this.
Title: Is this legal?
Post by: Xairbusdriver on January 30, 2009, 01:40:44 PM: There may be a lot of older movies that have not had their copyrights extended? Doubt any of them would be in color, however!