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College Downloading Etc.

Benji222

Benji222

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 21, 2009
1,089
0
So Cal
I am leaving for college very soon and do my fair share of downloading things online. Anyone know what I can do to continue my habits?

What I usually do is watch TV by downloading them and then deleting them. Is this going to get me in trouble? I also try albums for 24h periods of time. I support the artists I listen to.

If I use sites like mediafire, rapdishare, fileserve am I going to get caught?
I also have legitamite uses for P2P and wonder if they will also get me for that. I have read about them cracking down on that specifically but what if it is for freeware etc that is not illegal? Will I also get in trouble? Another example of this is through a community that releases software with bad servers. They cant really put a huge file on their server and let it get hammered; they use P2P instead because its free and effective.

Any tips? If you don't want to post because you think what i am doing is un-ethical, you have jumped to conclusions. Mods, if this is something you consider against the rules please delete.
 
Benji222 said:
What I usually do is watch TV by downloading them and then deleting them. Is this going to get me in trouble?
Click to expand...

Maybe. Every ISP I've ever heard of has a clause in their Terms of Use that states you can't use their network for illegal downloading. Of course, everyone just clicks through that disclaimer anyways... but it can be used against you if someone charges you.
 
If you have your own ISP then it shouldn't be different, but if you're using the school's internet (which is probably pretty damn fast) then you are walking on thin ice...just becareful and smart about what you DL. I'm pretty sure DLing from mediafire, rapidshare, etc. should be fine since the names on the files aren't exactly the same as the original. GL.
 
Get a VPN for sure, I'm actually amazed that people use public WiFi/wired without one on a daily basis when traffic is obviously being monitored. With a VPN they can't see what sites you're connecting to, and I'm pretty sure they won't be able to tell that your traffic is P2P.

but obviously if you're using tonnes of data they might have something to say about that.
 
AdrianK said:
Get a VPN for sure, I'm actually amazed that people use public WiFi/wired without one on a daily basis when traffic is obviously being monitored. With a VPN they can't see what sites you're connecting to, and I'm pretty sure they won't be able to tell that your traffic is P2P.

but obviously if you're using tonnes of data they might have something to say about that.
Click to expand...

Most VPNs have a similar "no illegal use" clause in their ToS. You don't gain anything from this.
 
miles01110 said:
Most VPNs have a similar "no illegal use" clause in their ToS. You don't gain anything from this.
Click to expand...
True, though they only usually enforce it for P2P traffic (OP mentioned a lot of non-P2P usage). You also gain a lot of privacy as your packets are now encrypted and virtually useless if they're sniffed. Besides, who said anything about commercial VPNs? I'd just host one at my parents house ;P
 
Most people who get charged for downloading copyrighted stuff actually get caught when the police raid their apartment for other things, such as drugs, and then find loads of ripped CDs/DVDs.
There are some people who get caught downloading torrents, but this happens mainly when downloading very new & popular torrents.
I doubt your college is going to filter P2P traffic, since - as you said - lots of people use it legitimately.

I do not think a VPN is necessary.
 
Benji222 said:
I am leaving for college very soon and do my fair share of downloading things online. Anyone know what I can do to continue my habits?

What I usually do is watch TV by downloading them and then deleting them. Is this going to get me in trouble? I also try albums for 24h periods of time. I support the artists I listen to.

If I use sites like mediafire, rapdishare, fileserve am I going to get caught?
I also have legitamite uses for P2P and wonder if they will also get me for that. I have read about them cracking down on that specifically but what if it is for freeware etc that is not illegal? Will I also get in trouble? Another example of this is through a community that releases software with bad servers. They cant really put a huge file on their server and let it get hammered; they use P2P instead because its free and effective.

Any tips? If you don't want to post because you think what i am doing is un-ethical, you have jumped to conclusions. Mods, if this is something you consider against the rules please delete.
Click to expand...

My advice would be to be *very* wary with what you do using university internet, because you can *definitely* get in trouble downloading stuff. At my school, if you were caught downloading torrents (at all, I think) they'd crack down very hard and ban you from their internet. An acquaintance forgot to close a torrenting program before connecting to campus wifi and subsequently had to go to hearings and stuff to get his internet access back.

At the very least, check their terms and conditions thoroughly before you do something stupid and find yourself sans internet.
 
(marc) said:
Most people who get charged for downloading copyrighted stuff actually get caught when the police raid their apartment for other things, such as drugs, and then find loads of ripped CDs/DVDs.
Click to expand...

:confused:
You can walk into my house right now and find loads of ripped CDs and DVDs… all into iTunes.
What does that have to do with illegal downloading?
 
Universities have become increasingly strict about how you use their bandwidth. It's not just about piracy. They also take a dim view of child pornography and other illegal activity. I would be very careful about anything you view. Remember, VPN or not, they (any ISP) can (and I think they do) monitor your activity. Your computer is identifiable, and therefore, so are you.

If you are going to do something nefarious, I'd recommend a coffee shop or other "public" location that cannot connect your name with your computer. I am not advocating illegal activity, but I also don't like living in a panopticon.
 
Benji222 said:
I am leaving for college very soon and do my fair share of downloading things online. Anyone know what I can do to continue my habits?

What I usually do is watch TV by downloading them and then deleting them. Is this going to get me in trouble? I also try albums for 24h periods of time. I support the artists I listen to.

If I use sites like mediafire, rapdishare, fileserve am I going to get caught?
I also have legitamite uses for P2P and wonder if they will also get me for that. I have read about them cracking down on that specifically but what if it is for freeware etc that is not illegal? Will I also get in trouble? Another example of this is through a community that releases software with bad servers. They cant really put a huge file on their server and let it get hammered; they use P2P instead because its free and effective.

Any tips? If you don't want to post because you think what i am doing is un-ethical, you have jumped to conclusions. Mods, if this is something you consider against the rules please delete.
Click to expand...

Universities can automatically detect P2P traffic and cut off all internet access. Typically they will send you to a screen asking if you're using it for legitimate purposes. If you answer yes, your connection is restored. If you answered no, which no one in their right mind would do, you would have to go through hearings. Note: your university's law office could potentially receive cease and desist/subpoenas from RIAA and MPAA individuals.

You're better off not downloading tv shows from torrent sites on campus and use legitimate services and RapidShare.
 
The students might also run an internal file sharing network. If your college isn't too small, you're going to find pretty much everything popular on there. :)
 
(marc) said:
Most people who get charged for downloading copyrighted stuff actually get caught when the police raid their apartment for other things, such as drugs, and then find loads of ripped CDs/DVDs.
There are some people who get caught downloading torrents, but this happens mainly when downloading very new & popular torrents.
I doubt your college is going to filter P2P traffic, since - as you said - lots of people use it legitimately.

I do not think a VPN is necessary.
Click to expand...

Untrue. Of the few cases where people have actually been charged, most have been using services such as the Gnutella network (which limewire is simply a client for) because they are sharing thousands of copyrighted files at a time and it can easily be proven. You're on the money about torrents though.

If you're selling pirated media and the police find all that in your house then you will be prosecuted, but honestly, if you've got an amount of an illicit substance, do you think they care? In fact, how can they prove that it isn't a copy of something you own. Unless they suspect that you're distributing (masses of blank media, replica DVD cases, lots of optical drives) they will not do anything. They have limited resources, obviously they're more interested in taking down distributors who are earning thousands off piracy than a someone downloading for their own consumption.

It's true that that's often how they find distributors (searches for substances etc).
 
Benji222 said:
What I usually do is watch TV by downloading them and then deleting them. Is this going to get me in trouble? I also try albums for 24h periods of time. I support the artists I listen to.
Click to expand...

By deleting their albums after 24 hours?

Look, the artists aren't the ones who are going to bring charges; it'll be the record companies. They don't care how much you support the artists, they only care that you're illegally downloading their copyrighted material.

The fact that you're asking about this is a pretty good indicator that you know you shouldn't be doing it. My advice - since that's why you started this thread - is to do the right thing and stop downloading illegally. There are plenty of ways to download TV shows and music legally, that won't get you in trouble with the record companies, the TV studios - OR get you kicked out of school.
 
The internet connection at my college was extremely fast, but thoroughly locked down to where no P2P stuff worked at all, and trying to download even just a .torrent file would time out. Same with my boarding high school. I wasn't particularly broken up about it, but it was a pain from time to time when trying to find an obscure song or old game that's unavailable legitimately for whatever reason.
 
I didn't hear of anyone at my previous Uni. get caught downloading torrents and other stuff. In fact, I downloaded many torrents (topgear, battlestar galactica, flash gordon, etc) and not once did anything happen. I'm guessing this is fairly new as I graduate a year or so before the news reports of young 14 year olds and grandmothers getting charged by recording companies for downloading.
 
Wow, i honestly didnt think this thread would take off at all. Thanks everyone.

VPN isnt really an option because I cant pay to host etc.

The coffee shop route was what i planned on from the start, although ti would be a pain in the butt to have to go there just to download something very simple. Also an average Starbucks WEP kinda scares me. (Correct me if I'm wrong but public networks usually aren't very secure?)

I also have read that distribution is the way to get caught, will stay away from that. I have heard of floor networks where people pool media, but that just seems like something that is begging to get caught.

It seems as if nobody knows for 100% what process the colleges goes through. I imagine they will look at you if you are a high traffic user...

The internet connection at my college was extremely fast, but thoroughly locked down to where no P2P stuff worked at all, and trying to download even just a .torrent file would time out. Same with my boarding high school. I wasn't particularly broken up about it, but it was a pain from time to time when trying to find an obscure song or old game that's unavailable legitimately for whatever reason.
-OutThere
I find this sad. I hope my college is not the same seeing as that I feel I am in the same category as you for torrenting.


Also its not possible to do something like change a mac address as an imput to sites right? or Is that just like terribly illegal.
 
Why not be honest, and review music by using pandora/spotify, and then purchase if you want it.
Movies and TV Shows: read reviews, then watch via netflix, or buy. Even HBO Go would be a good option.
There is always legal, or at the very least legally ambiguous solutions other than bit torrent.
 
Benji222 said:
Also its not possible to do something like change a mac address as an imput to sites right? or Is that just like terribly illegal.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can change your MAC address (which is not illegal), but your MAC address doesn't get transmitted to websites, anyway, so where's the point?
 
(marc) said:
Yes, you can change your MAC address (which is not illegal), but your MAC address doesn't get transmitted to websites, anyway, so where's the point?
Click to expand...

I thought this was the thing that would bust you in the end if they checked? Maybe I read wrong.
 
Benji222 said:
I thought this was the thing that would bust you in the end if they checked? Maybe I read wrong.
Click to expand...

The MAC adress only goes as far as your router.


As far as downloading, you can't use some program such as remote-desktop to use your home computer for downloading-needs, and then log into that via your school computer?

That's what I'll probably do next year.
 
rowley said:
Why not be honest, and review music by using pandora/spotify, and then purchase if you want it.
Click to expand...

Yep, this is solid advice. I've started giving albums a couple run-throughs in grooveshark before purchasing them, unless I'm so excited about the band in general that I'm willing to sacrifice the couple bucks it costs to get it in iTunes on the off chance that I'm disappointed.
 
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