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-   -   Acta (https://www.musicbanter.com/current-events-philosophy-religion/60657-acta.html)

blastingas10 01-29-2012 01:49 PM

Acta
 
Is it safe to download music from torrent sites with this bill being passed?

I read an article that said this:

The provision that proposed to criminally punish ordinary users (think college kid downloading music) with fines, jail time, seizure of computers, etc., was significantly scaled back as the negotiation process moved on and finally eliminated in the final text.

The provision that required all ACTA countries to hold third parties, such as ISPs and consumer electronics manufacturers, liable for their customers’ infringement was eliminated. This provision, as drafted, was inconsistent with U.S. law and would have required changes to this complex and evolving policy space.

But then It goes on to say this:

many problems still exist within the final ACTA product, including over-zealous statutory damages rules (such as fining someone hundreds of thousands of dollars for downloading a couple dozen songs) and asset seizure rules.

This seems to be a contradiction and it confuses me a little.

So my question is: is it safe or unsafe to download music torrents?

Freebase Dali 01-29-2012 03:21 PM

It's never really safe to download torrents. The main reason is because your IP address is prominently displayed when you're downloading a file, and if that file happens to be a honeypot, you're got.

A lot of people have been victims of this already, but to a lesser degree than what might happen with the bill. Know anyone who got a letter or email from their ISP saying they illegally downloaded a file and must get rid of it? Well that's exactly what happened. The ISP was contacted by whatever corporation owns the copyrights of the material, and the only way they could have known which IPs were downloading that file is if they were hosting the download and seeding it.

So no. It's not safe (particularly if the stakes are going to be raised).
I would recommend that people use direct-downloads from file hosting sites. The worst that could happen is the site is shut down.

blastingas10 01-29-2012 03:25 PM

I've downloaded quite a bit in the past and have never received any e-mails.

Unknown Soldier 01-29-2012 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10 (Post 1147762)
I've downloaded quite a bit in the past and have never received any e-mails.

World population is almost 7 billion, of which I read 21% have internet access in their own home, therefore the chances of receiving an email are slim. You probably run a higher risk in the USA than you would do in other countries, its a numbers game.

Frownland 01-29-2012 03:43 PM

What would be some good sites to download from other than TPB and bittorent etc.?

Freebase Dali 01-29-2012 03:54 PM

Just go to filestube.com and execute a search for whatever band/album.
The site is basically a search engine for file-hosting sites. You simply pick which host you'd like to download the file from. (it's tricky at first if you're not used to file hosting sites, as you may be tempted to believe you have to pay or sign up, but just look for the "slow download" or "free download" options and you'll be fine.)

You should be able to find most of what you're looking for that way, provided it's not so obscure that not even hipsters know about it.

Edit:
Skip any Filesonic hosts, and Megaupload, as both of those are down.

Scarlett O'Hara 01-29-2012 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali (Post 1147771)
Just go to filestube.com and execute a search for whatever band/album.
The site is basically a search engine for file-hosting sites. You simply pick which host you'd like to download the file from. (it's tricky at first if you're not used to file hosting sites, as you may be tempted to believe you have to pay or sign up, but just look for the "slow download" or "free download" options and you'll be fine.)

You should be able to find most of what you're looking for that way, provided it's not so obscure that not even hipsters know about it.

Edit:
Skip any Filesonic hosts, and Megaupload, as both of those are down.

Ah:

FilesTube lets you search for shared files from various file hosting sites like:
FileServe, FileSonic, Megaupload, 4shared, Rapidshare, Hotfile, Mediafire, Netload and many others.

Freebase Dali 01-29-2012 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla (Post 1147775)
Ah:

FilesTube lets you search for shared files from various file hosting sites like:
FileServe, FileSonic, Megaupload, 4shared, Rapidshare, Hotfile, Mediafire, Netload and many others.

I don't get it...

Scarlett O'Hara 01-29-2012 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali (Post 1147778)
I don't get it...

Aren't we supposed to be avoiding using Megaupload?

It's down so maybe that doesn't matter.

blastingas10 01-29-2012 04:38 PM

So, is thepiratebay.com something I should avoid?

Freebase Dali 01-29-2012 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla (Post 1147780)
Aren't we supposed to be avoiding using Megaupload?

It's down so maybe that doesn't matter.

I said in my post that Megavideo is down. Trying to save the guy some unnecessary clicking, that's all. Same with Filesonic (whose file sharing is currently self-disabled).

midnight rain 01-29-2012 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freebase Dali (Post 1147771)
Just go to filestube.com and execute a search for whatever band/album.
The site is basically a search engine for file-hosting sites. You simply pick which host you'd like to download the file from. (it's tricky at first if you're not used to file hosting sites, as you may be tempted to believe you have to pay or sign up, but just look for the "slow download" or "free download" options and you'll be fine.)

You should be able to find most of what you're looking for that way, provided it's not so obscure that not even hipsters know about it.

Edit:
Skip any Filesonic hosts, and Megaupload, as both of those are down.

Yep this is what I use now. Used to use loadingvault.com which was a better version of filestube.com, but it got taken down at some point.

I'm pretty sure all of the megaupload links are off the site already anyway. They act quickly I guess, but you can always use the left hand toolbar to personally select which hosting sites you want. A good way of filtering out the filesonics and stuff and sticking with mediafire.

blastingas10 01-31-2012 01:20 AM

So how exactly is filestube safe?

Freebase Dali 01-31-2012 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blastingas10 (Post 1148179)
So how exactly is filestube safe?

Well, for one, you're downloading files straight from a file-host, which is--in and of itself--not illegal or unsafe. Your IP address is not displayed to anyone but the server itself, as any ordinary client/server communication would have it. Also, companies don't put honeypots on file-hosts, because they'd have to own and administer those servers. (stick with well-known file hosts)

Let's say, however, that the file-host was Megaupload. Well, you saw what happened with that. The site was shut down. The FBI is not scouring the server logs for the millions of people who downloaded Lady GaGa's albums, provided there's even a permanent log anyway.
Pirating sources are addressed at the source. The end user doesn't have much to worry about.
I'd say the biggest threat, as of now, with downloading from a file hosting site is downloading a file with a virus in it, which your antivirus should be able to catch when you scan it.

blastingas10 01-31-2012 02:14 PM

Can you download albums or just songs? I'm on filestube now, trying to download some Wilco and I can only find individual songs.

midnight rain 01-31-2012 02:23 PM

Albums and songs, just search the album name and look for files within 30-100 mb. Anything less is probably a song or partial album, anything more is likely a bunch of crap you didn't want

blastingas10 01-31-2012 03:08 PM

Everything I see is under 30 mb. I guess Im doing something wrong or it just doesn't have what Im looking for.


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