What are the chances of getting caught with torrents/direct downloads?

[Cleatine]

Could anyone tell me this:

- Can you get caught when you're downloading all Harry Potter movies and nothing else?
- If you live outside the US, are the chances lower of getting caught?
- If you download very less, can you still get caught?

I'd totally appreciate your answer. Thank you ~

[ZackF]

The torrent seeder has a much greater chance of being sued than the leecher. Even greater chance of running into trouble is the site host for allowing illegal transactions etc. Steps of precaution:


1. Dont download copy-written material. ( Unless you must, haha )
2. Do NOT seed. Seeding is allowing other torrent users to have direct access to your computer and its files. It not only leaves you more open to hacking, but also makes you an accomplice to illegally distributing copy-written material.
3. Rename all downloaded files from their original title. ( Ex. Harry Putter: Sorcerers Statue )
4. Do NOT download files that appear to be risky, suspicious, or have very few reviews and/or downloads. These could be spyware attempting to catch someone stealing material.

[Trevolution]

Your chances are extremely small due to the large amounts of users and downloads that occur. If you download less I would say your chances are smaller, but yes you can still get caught. I have heard though that certain things aren't admissible in court, one being internet activity due to privacy, but I could be wrong.

[russel walker]

Just go to a LAN party and get Terabytes of stuff that you didn't pay for in one go and you have nothing to worry about. If they have them in Africa then I'm sure U.K can't be far behind (joke). Or look on your local online classifieds for people selling DVD's. Were I'm from they don't even hide it. It's like "im selling such and such copies of this and that for this amount, or im selling x amount of gigabytes in movies/series for this amount. Where you're from they may be more discrete. they may pretend to be selling original bought copies but when you contact them you will find they conveniently have multiple copies at a very low price. Torrents are for kiddie porn, there are other ways of getting what you want, just look around. Or just buy the dam thing and sleep better at night.

[Carlyxoxo]

I know that like 9000 people are being sued right now for downloading some porn film on a torrent by the makers, bet those people are embarrassed lol

Yes you can get caught but its not that likely, if the company sues you could get a fine. You would probably get a warning first then if you did it again you would get a massive fine (like in the $1000's) and your inetnet provider may stop being your provider.
Like i said its not likely but just so you know, you internet provider had everything you download andall the sites you go on and the website had your IP address which can be traced, So if you do get caught, you can't deny anything

[ThomasH]

- The chances of getting caught when downloading just harry potter films is minimal.
- it dosen't matter where you live. the chances are still the same
- the less you download the less likely you are to get caught.

its only when you download hundreds of films and start to sell them that the police/ authorities will get involved.

Hope this helps.

disclaimer: i will not take any responsibility if my advice back fires and you get prosecuted.

[BostonianInMO]

While the odds of getting caught are statistically small -- about the same as a mid-level lottery hit -- the resulting fines and penalties will be life-altering. Ask yourself this, "Can I afford to pay $25,000 per copy of everything that I've downloaded?" If the answer is "No," then don't download pirated content.

The next question to ask is, "Can I afford to lose everything on my computer when one of those pirated copies turns out to have 300 virus infections in it?" Again, if the answer is "No," then don't download pirated content.

While the odds of getting caught and sued by the RIAA are low, the odds of picking up multiple nasty viruses is better than even money these days. The malware authors LOVE torrents and other popular pirate P2P sharing networks as they know that their victims will never complain. That would be akin to calling 911 when your crack dealer stiffs you a rock or two. (OK, I know, some ARE that stupid. That's why they call it "dope.")

[Andy]

The problem isn't the downloading, it's the uploading. If even 1 bit of info gets uploaded from your computer to one of the studios or MPAA you are caught. Chances of being caught don't change if you are outside of the US, but the chances of it causing a problem goes down I would imagine since our gov. here is owned by the MPAA and RIAA.