

Ask HN: Is it safe to download movies via BitTorrent in the USA? - jivejones

I want to download a movie, but I'm worry about getting into legal trouble, is that a reasonable concern or am I being overly paranoid?
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rwolf
The risk is nonzero, but it's hard to tell what level of risk you will find to
be reasonable.

Data point: [http://unitedtechguys.com/2011/06/10/50000-people-sued-
for-d...](http://unitedtechguys.com/2011/06/10/50000-people-sued-for-
downloading-a-movie-theyll-never-watch/)

Anecdote: at least 1% of the people I went to college with were sent "piracy
letters" by the school's ISP while attending school.

Edit: data point from Hn in the last hour: <http://imgur.com/vsnmm>

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jimbobimbo
If you are asking this question, then probably no.

From practical point of view: if your interest in video entertainment is quite
mainstream, then while being in US it's actually cheaper in all aspects to
carry Netflix or other video rental subscription than download something
protected by RIAA. If you have non-mainstream interest, then I'd think, the
risk of being caught is lower, since chances are RIAA won't care about some
obscure movies.

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Locke1689
Statistically safe? Probably, it depends on the movie. Morally wrong? Yes.
Harmful to the state of IP law in this country? Yes. If you're a developer who
wants to get paid for what you do will I judge you as a hypocrite? Yes.

Will I make your decisions for you? No.

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icebraining
>Morally wrong? Yes.

Subjective.

~~~
Locke1689
Maybe, but I have yet to hear a cogent argument that doesn't require the axiom
that intellectual work has no value, either to society or intrinsically.

~~~
kls
I don't think it is so much that the work has no value in their mind, but
rather the whole system is held up by legal contortions, manipulation, abuse
and corruption via purchased legal protection in the form of legislation. The
cost of this victimization to both the artist and the consumer is then passed
on to the consumer and only a fraction is shared with the artist.

To be clear people that argue for downloading non-purchased copyrighted work
being morally right, are basically arguing that two wrongs make a right. I
don't personally align with that view point. I do align with the view point
that the work is protected by a system of victimization to both the artist and
the consumer and that society as a whole would be better off without those
leaches.

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WiseWeasel
I would say it is certainly a legal concern to download movies via bittorrent.
To avoid problems, I would suggest services that don't make you discoverable
to 3rd parties, such as html downloads or even newsgroups or irc.

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icebraining
If I was in the US, I'd use a VPN like IPREDator. According to TF, more than
200000 people were sued since 2010 for movie sharing.

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geekam
I wanted to know this. Also, how about streaming websites like stagevu.com ?

