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ceezy3000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 10, 2009
447
0
The Valley!!
Excuse my naivety but how does someone get caught illegally downloading mp3's? I don't understand exactly how someone gets caught? do they trace your ip or something? haha sorry i;m just wondering the concept is still odd to me
 
Usually by calling attention to themselves in a busy, online forum.
 
Well, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can see every last thing you do on the internet.

Second way, is if the download has a hidden backdoor on it that actually makes it send information to a specific place.


If your ISP tells the authorities, you're screwed.

If you download that file, you're screwed.
 
Most of the cases I've seen that get publicity are not about people who download, but the people who make the downloads available. They get brought up on charges of distributing copyrighted material. It's like in the drug wars, the police don't want the end users they want the dealers.

I'm not exactly sure how they actually identify the individual. I would assume it is by obtaining their IP address and serving a warrant to the ISP provider. I could be way off though as I'm just guessing. You know how it is, you watch a few Law & Order episodes and you think you know everything. :D
 
Well, your ISP (Internet Service Provider) can see every last thing you do on the internet.

Second way, is if the download has a hidden backdoor on it that actually makes it send information to a specific place.


If your ISP tells the authorities, you're screwed.

If you download that file, you're screwed.

oh gotcha, i just wanted to know how.
 
There are two main methods:

1) Your ISP sees what you are doing and tells you off. Usually just a warning.

2) There are companies that are hired by law firms/ pro-copyright groups that catch the IP addresses of downloaders. They then go to a court with the information and the court (usually) orders the ISP of the person with that IP address to hand over the contact details of the owner of that IP address. The law firm will then contact you etc etc.....

In the UK about a year ago there was a lot of hype about a law firm (I cant remember the name) that was sending out threatening letters to people, accusing them of downloading particular files, and are using the second method described above to get in contact with them and charge them.... however it seems a lot of the people they targeted were innocent....apparently.
 
@lukenn The bear in your avatar, is it from one of those Channel 4 break-filler-thingies?
 
You're free and clear in Australia. Although there is somewhat of a landmark case between the studios and labels against an ISP of ours that should the ISP lose will effectively make the ISPs police their customers if they illegally download.

Then there is the 3-strikes law that might be coming.
 
@lukenn The bear in your avatar, is it from one of those Channel 4 break-filler-thingies?

haha I dunno mate. One of the users here had it as their wallpaper in the Setup Thread and it's called the Pedo Bear, just because it's a little creepy. I thought it was funny so set it as my avatar :) not sure where it originated from.
 
Most of the cases I've seen that get publicity are not about people who download, but the people who make the downloads available. They get brought up on charges of distributing copyrighted material. It's like in the drug wars, the police don't want the end users they want the dealers.

But with bittorrent technology, aren't all downloaders also providers too? Granted, they're not the original source of the files, but everyone who downloads via torrent is also sharing the file with others.
 
But with bittorrent technology, aren't all downloaders also providers too? Granted, they're not the original source of the files, but everyone who downloads via torrent is also sharing the file with others.

Well, you have seeders, who have the full file, and leechers, who provide what pieces of the file they have, but are still downloading.

Unfortunately, the trackers give IP addresses (in order for bittorrent to connect to you), which is what the Content providers (and their lapdogs) use to track you down. They go to your ISP with the IP address and find out who was using it at the time of the infraction.

If the ISP doesn't give it up, the Content providers file a John Doe subpeona? in order to get the ISP to give up the name or deliver the notice to the person.
 
But with bittorrent technology, aren't all downloaders also providers too? Granted, they're not the original source of the files, but everyone who downloads via torrent is also sharing the file with others.

I'm not very familiar with torrent technology and have never used one so I'm not sure how that would affect things. As usual, our technology is more advanced than our legal system, especially when it comes to intellectual property. If using a torrent means every downloader becomes a sharer then I would assume the state would classify this as illegal and could prosecute if they wanted to do so.

There was a recent thread about a woman who was prosecuted for sharing on Kazaa. Post 18 is where her sharing begins being discussed.
 
Scroll down the page - someone's posted the bear wallpaper:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/776619/

Yeah that was me :p

I saw it on someones Setup Post, so decided to find the wallpaper myself and use it as my background.

OP: In theory yes, because of how torrents work, every downloader is an uploader also, however there are measures some users take to make sure they arent uploading. In a court (or the UK at least) an IP address at the moment isnt seen as sufficient evidence to base a case on. So unless the defendant actually admits to doing the dirty deed there isnt a lot of evidence the prosecution can use. However, having said that, in a lot of countries the laws regarding intellectual property are being discussed, and it's very possible they will change, so I'd 100% recommend staying away from torrents and all other forms of illegal downloading.

If it's good enough, you wont mind paying for it. It you dont want to pay for it, then it's clearly not worth your time. That's my thinking.
 
Usually by calling attention to themselves in a busy, online forum.

lmao, win

haha I dunno mate. One of the users here had it as their wallpaper in the Setup Thread and it's called the Pedo Bear, just because it's a little creepy. I thought it was funny so set it as my avatar :) not sure where it originated from.

i hate to know the answer, but as with everything, its from 4chan. :eek:
 
But with bittorrent technology, aren't all downloaders also providers too? Granted, they're not the original source of the files, but everyone who downloads via torrent is also sharing the file with others.

Not if you set your limits at 0 kbps uploading :p.
That's what I do (I know, I'm horrible, aren't I :eek:).
I'm basically never uploading, and always downloading. That is, unless if the download is going slow, then I turn on uploading so it goes a little faster (It happens on some where some sites where they limit your download limit to your upload limit)
 
Honeypots are a popular approach. The industry's contracted goons will set up phony shares of popular content and log the IP addresses of users who try to access the content. If you're using something like Limewire, and use the default configuration, they can then browse the files you're sharing.

The great thing about that is, if you also let Limewire scan for existing media files when you installed it, you could conceivably be busted for sharing out things you actually paid for. I wonder how many people have gotten hauled into court just for using the stupid default settings.
 
Not if you set your limits at 0 kbps uploading :p.
That's what I do (I know, I'm horrible, aren't I :eek:).
I'm basically never uploading, and always downloading. That is, unless if the download is going slow, then I turn on uploading so it goes a little faster (It happens on some where some sites where they limit your download limit to your upload limit)

Wouldn't you have to keep uploading turned on if you want to keep your ratio balanced (1.00 and up)?

I'm assuming you're on private trackers.
 
Sorry I'm late on this...

Back to the original question, with a counterpoint: How does one not get caught illegally downloading an MP3? The answer is really quite simple.
 
Back to the original question, with a counterpoint: How does one not get caught illegally downloading an MP3? The answer is really quite simple.

Easy: not use P2P.

Furk.net and just downloading from YouTube are virtually untraceable.
 
Back to the original question, with a counterpoint: How does one not get caught illegally downloading an MP3? The answer is really quite simple.

To the best of my knowledge no one has been caught downloading MP3's, only uploading them. If you are using P2P you simply need to disable the uploading portion and you should be ok. Its similar to drugs in that most users don't get punish or pursued by the law in relation to drug dealers.

As for torrents they have circumnavigated the law due to the fact that files are broken up into x amount of parts and you then upload that small portion. For example one song might be in 100 different pieces and you are uploading that to a user who may be downloading each 1/100 of the song from 100 different computers. Each piece of the file is rubbish without the other 99 parts. Therefore its much harder to prosecute.

Some IP providers have wised up and begun to place data limits on their services after seeing user use upwards of 10gb by a single user overnight. Most likely the future of ISP is to charge per gb of usage.
 
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