Is it illegal to download programs from Kazaa? (1 Viewer)

[braindrainedAsh]

I was wondering if it is illegal to download programs from Kazaa? Like games and stuff. I was just curious, if this thread isn't allowed, lock it! Also, would this be policed or is it only the Record Industry cracking down on music downloads at the moment? I was just curious because I know people who have downloaded programs from Kazaa and I wondered what kind of penalty they would be looking at if caught.

 

[Winston]

the RIAA doesn't take care of software pirating, but it obviously is illegal to download software but people still do, dont worry too much, australia doesnt have laws imposed on this yet, and they dont wanna waste their time hunting minor users down when 99 % of internet users download illegal software.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Oh, I must be in the 1% lol.

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
I was wondering if it is illegal to download programs from Kazaa? Like games and stuff.

Yes.

If this thread isn't allowed, lock it!

Thread is now locked.

Also, would this be policed or is it only the Record Industry cracking down on music downloads at the moment?

The RIAA are only targetting their sector - the Music Industry.
The MPAA target their sector - the Film/Movie Industry.

I was just curious because I know people who have downloaded programs from Kazaa and I wondered what kind of penalty they would be looking at if caught.

It varies.

You can reach the extremes such as the seizure of all your computing hardware, discs and so on by the AFP to act as evidence. Fines are also in place, and vary depending on the amount pirated.

Originally posted by Winston
the RIAA doesn't take care of software pirating, but it obviously is illegal to download software but people still do, dont worry too much, australia doesnt have laws imposed on this yet, and they dont wanna waste their time hunting minor users down when 99 % of internet users download illegal software.

Software pirating is generally against everything the BSA stands for. Global warez raids have taken place in Australia - in Sydney. Minors have also been caught (I'm not kidding).

 

[braindrainedAsh]

What exactly is warez? I'm not really sure what the term means?

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by braindrainedAsh
What exactly is warez? I'm not really sure what the term means?

derived from software

just a wanky term for illegal software.

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by Winston
derived from software
just a wanky term for illegal software.

That was so academic of you!

Warez

a) Widely used to denote cracked or pirate versions of commercial software. In other words, illegal pirated software.

b) A term used by software pirates use to describe a cracked game or application that is made available to the Internet, usually via FTP or telnet, often the pirate will make use of a site with lax security.

c) Pronounced as though spelled "wares" or possibly by some pronounced like the city of "Juarez" is a term used by software "pirates" to describe software that has been stripped of its copy-protection and made available on the Internet for downloading. People who create warez sites sometimes call them "warez sitez" and use "z" in other pluralizations.

According to the International Planning & Research Corporation, warez sites cost software vendors $11.8 billion in 2001. The most popular downloads at warez sites include applications from major vendors such as Microsoft, Symantec, Macromedia, and Adobe Systems. The vendors have joined forces with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to successfully close a loophole in Internet law that allowed warez distributors to avoid legal prosecution as long as they didn't profit monetarily from their distributions. Use of warez software is also illegal and may result in a jail sentence.

Warez should not be confused with shareware or freeware software applications, which are legal and may be freely copied and distributed.

I prefer the last definition.

edit
I don't know anything about this topic.

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Huy

edit
I don't know anything about this topic.

MY ASS u dont

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by Winston
MY ASS u dont

You need to read between the lines.

*sticks up three fingers*

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Huy
You need to read between the lines.

*sticks up three fingers*

so he sticks up three fingers, ahh right eliminates the thumb and the middle finger, so i'm looking at the index finger rite? :S... what's so special about it, it better not have something to do with sex... cause i don't wanna know

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by Winston
so he sticks up three fingers, ahh right eliminates the thumb and the middle finger, so i'm looking at the index finger rite? :S... what's so special about it, it better not have something to do with sex... cause i don't wanna know

You're an ass.

I stick up three fingers, starting from the index and stopping at my ring finger. I told you to read between the lines and that eliminates the index and ring finger. Must I explain everything to you!

No, it's not about sex. And even if it were, you're too young to know, and I'm too innocent to know about it as well.

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Huy
You're an ass.

I stick up three fingers, starting from the index and stopping at my ring finger. I told you to read between the lines and that eliminates the index and ring finger. Must I explain everything to you!

No, it's not about sex. And even if it were, you're too young to know, and I'm too innocent to know about it as well.

HAHAH! oh dear... you're such a nugget ...

 

[fatmuscle]

if you are caught

u and ur ISP will be spanked

 

[MrMiK]

spanked ay... *strokes chin*

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by MrMiK
spanked ay... *strokes chin*

I'm warming to the idea too. It's a tempting offer.

 

[Winston]

but i heard the ppl who catches u are all males ..

maybe Huy likes it that way

 

[Huy]

Originally posted by Winston
but i heard the ppl who catches u are all males ..

maybe Huy likes it that way

You don't need to make fun of yourself, using me as your scapegoat. I already know about your issues.

 

[Winston]

Originally posted by Huy
You don't need to make fun of yourself, using me as your scapegoat. I already know about your issues.

HAHAHA rite... go wash ur hands and do ur daily exercises u fart poop

 

[Agent Z]

Well you couldnt shut down the Kazaa network anyway.

Sharman Networks (SN), whos website is based in Australia, is the company that develops and produces Kazaa, however SN is not based in one centralised location, so it makes it difficult if not impossible to shut them down as different countries have different laws and rules regarding to software/music piracy. From what I know this is how distributed SN are:

Kazaa File Sharing Servers - Denmark
Kazaa File Sharing Software - Estonia
Kazaa.com Domain - Australia
Sharman Corporation - New Caledonia
Kazaa File Sharing Users - In excess of 60 million.

So how can authorities shut this kind of activity down? Unless of course, they start charging individual users (see http://www.boredofstudies.org/community/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20027) Which in my opinion is very stupid, as they are only ever going to charge a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of users. It will be impossible to police whats on their servers as Denmark currently has no laws concerning file sharing servers, so technically the RIAA or any such body can't shut them down.

 

[jm1234567890]

it isn't illegal to download software form kazaa, only illegal to upload copyrighted software.

anyway, the edonkey network is much better fir software now that kazaalite has been closed down