Why Are Illegal Download Sites There?

Ones like beemp3 and Piratebay. They are all sites that could make you computer have a virus. I did once download an illegal torrent that caused a message to appear on saying that I would have to pay a fine of $250,000 which was in US money.:eek: It was just a virus which I managed to get rid of in the end.:)
 
This is going to get removed, but oh well.

Neutral answer: The site's themselves are not located in the US and thus aren't subject to our copyright laws. Most are hosted in Sweden which is famous for being neutral in international matters. Recently however the founder of the pirate bay was found guilty in a civil suit in Sweden and ordered to pay something like 7 or 27 million dollars, I forget the actual amount. However that's pending another case since it was appealed and iirc that judge's impartiality has been called into question.

The site's exist because there is a demand for them, and technically they're not providing you the pirated material, only the means to acquire it. Sort of like how a head shop isn't liable for you smoking illegal substances from a bong or pipe they sell you.

As for personal opinions on the ethics of piracy, I'll leave those for another thread.


As for the letter/warning/whatever you got, just ignore it. It's a scare tactic. Companies rarely, if ever go after individual people for individual downloads. Going after the site's themselves is rarely successful, so it's simply not cost effective for them to go after you and I.
 
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Companies rarely, if ever go after individual people for individual downloads. Going after the site's themselves is rarely successful, so it's simply not cost effective for them to go after you and I.

The RIAA and MPAA have stopped pursuing individuals, these days they just alert your ISP and get them to warn you and then shut off your internet if they have to warn you again. However, sometimes people/companies associated with the creation of specific movies go after individuals that have pirated it, notably "The Hurt Locker" (case dropped) and recently "The Expendables".
 
The RIAA and MPAA have stopped pursuing individuals, these days they just alert your ISP and get them to warn you and then shut off your internet if they have to warn you again. However, sometimes people/companies associated with the creation of specific movies go after individuals that have pirated it, notably "The Hurt Locker" (case dropped) and recently "The Expendables".

Still, the odds of anything actually happening are extremely low, let alone their chances of winning if it ever got to court. It's still a scare tactic.
 
Because it's not illegal in Sweden to host torrent sites. Read some of piratebay's response letters to American companies demanding that their contents be removed - they're actually really funny.
 
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