Why are torrent sites allowed?

[nakamura]

Just been to isohunt, just for an old PC game but it is so easy to find torrents. I rarely download games myself, I have so many to play I don't need to but I do look for the odd one.

How come sites can get around the legalities of piracy?

[speedlolita]

Because the files aren't stored on the websites.

[nakamura]

Fair enough. That is still linking to downloaded files.

[Dogg Thang]

At its most basic, it's because when laws defined theft, they didn't envisage a time when valuable products could be copied flawlessly. The law has been massively behind the technology, leading to copyright theft being accepted as normal by a large portion of a whole generation. And those pirating argue (rightly) that those making the laws don't know what they're dealing with and have no concept of the world of the internet. While those pirating are making a slightly different point, that has allowed many of them to go about their business without a problem.

With torrent sites, the difficulty is that it is shared between so many users. Can they prosecute every one of those users? Can they even find them amidst proxies and whatnot? The Pirate Bay torrent site went to court however and I note just searching for it now that trying to get there brings up a message that it's blocked by my ISP of all people.

It's a spaghetti mess of an issue to be honest. And it's going to be very interesting where it all leads.

[speedlolita]

It's a really hazy area really. I agree though, if people wanted to really clamp down on piracy then a law could be made or something. But again, the law would have to be universal for it to truly be stamped out.

[Brad]

It should be noted that those that participate in the torrent can be prosecuted, and have been. Successfully, in this country with fines in the tens of thousands of pounds.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say but I'm sure most people torrent but I only really download stuff that isn't licensed in this country, at least not yet. Like fansubs..

Concerns me that my brother downloads tons of mainstream stuff, as I'll be the one who gets the blame should anything happen.

[charlesr]

Torrents sites are a bit like someone standing on a corner and saying "hey, there's a guy down this alleyway distributing coke for free. Nothing to do with me though". In theory there's nothing wrong with it. But without them people just wouldn't find the files so the torrents would die, so you could say they are facilitating it.

[eastyy]

Are there any free legal equivalent sites....ie ones you can download games tv series and films that are public domain ?

[charlesr]

mininova?

[speedlolita]

Yeah, RIP to Mininova. Good times.

[huxley]

Mininova is all legit. Some good web only movies on there. And its a great place for non signed artists to get their stuff out for free.

[nakamura]

Ironically the PC game I downloaded I couldn't get to start, I should stick to consoles.

[smouty]

As far as I know from the recent ACS law fiasco, no one has ever been prosecuted for downloading, only uploading.
A person successfully defended himself against this charge by providing evidence that he had a 'leechmod' which prevented his torrent client from uploading at all.