# what are the chances of being caught by using ares to download music,op systems,etc?



## Kris W.

So? WIll I get caught and sent to jail?


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## Guest

Good grief, Kris, you are in a wild mood today.

I'd be scared to even try. When people get caught, they get in BIG trouble.


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## lharvey

Thee was a fellow in Maine just up the road from me last month that is being sued by ASCAP or BMI for illegal dl's of music.

It wasn't so much that he got caught but it was more the stupid music that he got caught downloading. No accounting for taste


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## Teresa S.

toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo risky!


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## WolfWalksSoftly

It's one thing to be sued and have a judgement placed against you....it's another thing to actually collect.


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## giffy

WolfWalksSoftly said:


> It's one thing to be sued and have a judgement placed against you....it's another thing to actually collect.


The funds you have to pay to lawyers to defend such a suit is a drop in the bucket to the funds the RIAA and MPAA have to sue you.

giffy


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## Herb

Not worth the nasty viruses you will get.


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## arabian knight

I have been doing it for a year now But I DO Pay a little. Like 20 bucks one time fee. Now I have friend that has been doing this a year also and is on the free site of Limewire, and downloads all sorts of songs. Another friend is using Limewire free for almost a years time. And Another friend that is paying like I do and had now over 4,000 songs on his lap top, and he using those songs as a DJ when he does his shows on the weekends around his state and now even goes out of State DJ'ing~! He does Weddings Parties, things like that~! Also using a small pay service at 20 buck one time fee.
I don't know I have made quite a few CDs now from using Limewire. And NO that site Does Not have stuff on it to get nasties on your computer. And NO I don't Share on my computer nor do ANY of these people that make CDs on their own and neither does my DJ friend.~! They have sharing shut off and I do as well. And I go into my Limewires Options and make sure Sharing is not as well.


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## Teresa S.

so, is it illegal just to have a p2p program installed, even if you don't download any thing? I'm starting to get curious about this myself now....


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## Teresa S.

I thought one of the users on here posted how to use Ares safely without getting caught last summer....who was that?


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## Nevada

Kris W. said:


> So? WIll I get caught and sent to jail?


It's possible to get caught, but you won't go to jail. The resulting lawsuit from music sharing would be a civil case where the music industry could sue for monetary damages.

In the first place, they aren't after people who download music files, they're only after people who are sharing music files. Since people who share music files number in the millions, it's only practical for the music industry to pursue the most serious abusers; people who share huge numbers of files while connected with a broadband connection.

Next, the music industry is only interested in stopping the sharing of contemporary music (new music, songs currently ranked on the charts). That's the only music which has commercial interest. Music can have an copyright for many years, but since most older music has no one actively enforcing those copyrights, the sharing of older music isn't likely to put you at risk of a lawsuit.

The music industry is fighting contemporary music sharing by posting large numbers of bogus files. This files are either silent, have an irritating buzz, or just play the same few bars of music over and over. Kazaa, in particular, is targeted my the music industry for posting bogus music files. Some people claim that perhaps only 1 contemporary song in 100 is good at Kazaa. If you are after contemporary music you should avoid Kazaa (try Ares Galaxy). If you are after oldies then it doesn't matter, since the music industry isn't posting bogus files for oldies.

You best chance at avoiding detection is to move any contemporary music files out of your shared P2P folder IMMEDIATELY after downloading. Just put the music files in some other folder on your hard drive that isn't shared. You might also consider storing 20 or 30 oldies in your shared folder to keep your "participation" high, since some people won't share files with people who who aren't also sharing.



Teresa S. said:


> so, is it illegal just to have a p2p program installed, even if you don't download any thing? I'm starting to get curious about this myself now....


In itself, there is nothing illegal about having P2P software or using a P2P network. The line between legal and illegal is only crossed when copyrighted material is shared, which is something the P2P network has no control over. The P2P network isn't breaking the law when that happens, only those members who are sharing copyrighted material.


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## giffy

As of 11/06 nearly 20,000 people also thought they could "do it without getting caught" yet they paid an average of $3500 in fines when sued by the RIAA. The movie folks have just started their part of sueing the pants off downloaders. 

It is true that P2P sharing can also be used for sharing of legal files and music but alot of P2P networks and BitTorrents are being used to share copy protected files, music and movies. Millions of folks trade files that are copy protected only a small fraction are nailed for it, but don't be fooled into thinking there is a "safe" way to download illegal files.

giffy


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## Teresa S.

Still to scary for me to even THINK about downloading Ares or Limewire....I'll stick with Yahoo! music downloads for now, than you.


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## Nevada

giffy said:


> As of 11/06 nearly 20,000 people also thought they could "do it without getting caught" yet they paid an average of $3500 in fines when sued by the RIAA. The movie folks have just started their part of sueing the pants off downloaders.
> 
> It is true that P2P sharing can also be used for sharing of legal files and music but alot of P2P networks and BitTorrents are being used to share copy protected files, music and movies. Millions of folks trade files that are copy protected only a small fraction are nailed for it, but don't be fooled into thinking there is a "safe" way to download illegal files.
> 
> giffy


I never said a person couldn't get caught, I'm just saying that if you keep a low profile they won't have any reason to single you out.

I do disagree that they are targeting downloaders, since that doesn't make sense. The real damage is done by those who are sharing the files, not those who are downloading them. You aren't going to stop illegal file sharing without removing the copyrighted materials from the networks. That's what the music industry is concentrating on.

Just be careful and keep a low profile.


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## giffy

Nevada said:


> I never said a person couldn't get caught, I'm just saying that if you keep a low profile they won't have any reason to single you out.
> 
> I do disagree that they are targeting downloaders, since that doesn't make sense. The real damage is done by those who are sharing the files, not those who are downloading them. You aren't going to stop illegal file sharing without removing the copyrighted materials from the networks. That's what the music industry is concentrating on.
> 
> Just be careful and keep a low profile.


Not saying you did, and I agree with most of what you said........but there have been times in past posts/replies that different folks have said, "do it this way and you will be safe"..........my point is you may have less of a chance but you are not "safe". 

When WinMX was in the cross hairs of the RIAA there was an article on someone who recieved "the letter" from the RIAA lawyers, the individual targeted had always kept his music folder emptied so that he would not bring attention to himself.........didn't work and he settled for $1400.

When it all started folks said go to this site or that site and you won't be targeted..........then after many of them got shut down, everyone said use bittorrent and they can't get you........now that they are turning up the heat on bittorrent I am reading statements like, "go to your nearest wifi hotspot and they can't track you"............point is you are taking a chance and the greedy music and motion picture industry doesn't care if you are 6 or 60 when it comes to sending out lawsuit letters.

giffy


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## Gary in ohio

Kris W. said:


> So? WIll I get caught and sent to jail?


Does it matter what the risk are? Regardless of what you think of someone copyrights or current copyright laws. 

If the copyright says you can not share/download and you do download the file then your a thief, a criminal. Dont try to justify it. Your a thief, even if your never caught your a thief.

WIll you go to jail, NO, will you get caught, maybe, if you do your legal cost will far exceed anything you would pay for the product and if you loose your case your fine will be thousands of dollars per download item.


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## 14yearpcmaker

I too, agree that's risky...I do admit I had Ares AND Limewire several moths ago, and didn't think anything was wrong with it..I only downloaded about 6 songs (???) and moved them out of my shared folder. BUT, after I read about all of the bad things that can/could happen, I got rid of them and FAST! I deleted the songs as well. I hope I still won't get caught by a left behind file that I missed. I now listen to my music via Yahoo! free player (which is legal)...you can't keep the songs, but, it sure is a LOT better than getting sued!!


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## OntarioMan

For free music and movies - there is a legal way - satellite television.

In Canada, using "FTA" receivers to capture American Dishnetwork service is legal. These FTA receivers open up all channels including all pay-per-view movie channels and all satellite radio channels.

In the U.S. it may be legal to capture Bell ExpressVu channels with a FTA receiver - although I don't know U.S. law.

As far as downloading pirated software - I wouldn't do it nor would I even bother. Its illegal and even if it were legal, its more hassle than its worth. Software vendors have become very good at making it very difficult to pirate their software.


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## WindowOrMirror

Why do we ask if we "could get caught" doing something? WHat happened to asking if a thing is right or wrong to do?

We may argue that it is "wrong" to ask $15 for a CD, but we are in control of whether or not we buy that CD. We KNOW it is wrong to DL the music for free, and we are in complete control of whether or not we do that.

Downloading music (almost all, and all that is intended for sale) without paying for it, is wrong. I don't need to think about whether or not I could get caught doing it.

R


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## Nevada

WindowOrMirror said:


> WHat happened to asking if a thing is right or wrong to do?


In this millenium? You've GOT to be kidding!

I'm old enough to remember back when there was no penalty for parking in designated handicapped parking spaces. It wasn't a problem back then, since it was assumed that no self-respecting person would take a crippled person's parking space. How well would that system work today?

But more to the point, I wouldn't mind paying for a song if I knew that Enya or Joan Baez were getting at least some if it, perhaps just a lousy dime for the dollar that's collected. Unfortunately the artists get nothing. Does anyone ask if that's right or wrong? No, because it's legal.

However, if you equate legal & illegal with right & wrong then you're already morally bankrupt, so it's a lost cause anyway.


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## WindowOrMirror

legal doesn't mean "right", but my belief system dictates that "illegal" means I won't do it.

For instance: I strongly believe that there should be no anti-drug laws and that marijuana should be legal, BUT since it is illegal, I do not partake of it since God clearly tells us to follow the powers and principalities until their laws conflict with His.

I also believe that allowing people to vote themselves largesse from public coffers is "wrong", but it is part of our country and it's "democratic" makeup.

R


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## Photo-bug

From my understanding when using peer to peer the ones that are getting busted are the ones that are sharing their collection for others to download. If you are only downloading you are much much safer than if you are offering up music for others to download. It is usually your ISP that notices the uploads and then legally reports you.


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