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Downloading isn't copyright infringement, uploading is, because you are sharing something without the authorization of the copyright holder. Torrent sites frequ

Downloading isn't copyright infringement, uploading is, because you are sharing something without the authorization of the copyright holder. Torrent sites frequently track uploads and kick users off that don't upload, so it would be tricky for their Terms of Service to make an exception that works for their network and also tries to ensnare these honeypots. And regarding downloading or acquiring or even purchasing: it has never been up to the consumer to know who has the authorization (license) to distribute a work. We just assume Walmart/Target/Netflix/Amazon etc has the rights to sell us whatever we consume. It isn't our problem.

Wowfunhappy 6y ago
Torrents seed automatically. If I purposefully make my own film available as a torrent (I could be an indie filmmaker with limited funds for bandwidth), shouldn't seeding be understood as implicitly allowed?
- vmception 6y ago
  We don’t currently have a regulatory regime that matches this very sensible idea. We have a regime that is ripe for abuse by these honeypots.
freeflight 6y ago
> Downloading isn't copyright infringement, uploading is, because you are sharing something without the authorization of the copyright holder. That much is true, but when it's the rights holder that's uploading the content, then it's not copyright infringement because they chose to upload it to be shared, while actually having the proper rights to do so. With DDL hosters there's quite a few that put in the ToS how by uploading a file that publicly accessible for download, you confirm that you have the right to do so, as these services usually do have a ToS as they are mostly run by legit companies. While with a decentralized p2p network, as bittorrent is, there's really no way to enforce a system wide ToS. > Torrent sites frequently track uploads and kick users off that don't upload Not "sites" do that, but communities centered around trackers do that to ensure that there's actually enough upload bandwidth and not just a bunch of leechers that only download but never contribute with their upload bandwidth.
- vmception 6y ago
  I understand the sentiment and I agree with that I don’t see any regulatory framework or statute or case law that matches it You can’t assume the rights holder is giving tacit consent to non-license holders to share. You can assume they are mitigating bandwidth constraints using the bittorrent protocols. Assuming the other seeders are pirates like “you” is the bad assumption here. Relying on autoseeding software to distort the legal reality is the bad assumption here (someone else mentioned this).
  - washadjeffmad 6y ago
    How does one reconcile the existence of the private torrent feature, then?
    - vmception 6y ago
      A protocol can be used for anything. With torrents there is no one organization that has control over a proprietary piracy tool. That is how you reconcile it. If you are sharing things you dont have a license from the creator or another license holder to share, it is copyright infringement. If you are sharing things you have that authorization from then it is not.
behringer 6y ago
Downloading is copyright infringement if the uploader did not have the rights to give it to you. Just because it's not common for the rights holder to sue you as a downloader does not make it legal.
- vmception 6y ago
  That’s an interesting concept can you (or anyone passing by) share a corroborating source to support that?
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
glandium 6y ago
> Downloading isn't copyright infringement Note this isn't universally true. For instance, download is copyright infringement in Japan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing_in_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing_in_Japan

Wowfunhappy 6y ago

Torrents seed automatically. If I purposefully make my own film available as a torrent (I could be an indie filmmaker with limited funds for bandwidth), shouldn't seeding be understood as implicitly allowed?

vmception 6y ago
We don’t currently have a regulatory regime that matches this very sensible idea. We have a regime that is ripe for abuse by these honeypots.

freeflight 6y ago

> Downloading isn't copyright infringement, uploading is, because you are sharing something without the authorization of the copyright holder. That much is true, but when it's the rights holder that's uploading the content, then it's not copyright infringement because they chose to upload it to be shared, while actually having the proper rights to do so. With DDL hosters there's quite a few that put in the ToS how by uploading a file that publicly accessible for download, you confirm that you have the right to do so, as these services usually do have a ToS as they are mostly run by legit companies. While with a decentralized p2p network, as bittorrent is, there's really no way to enforce a system wide ToS. > Torrent sites frequently track uploads and kick users off that don't upload Not "sites" do that, but communities centered around trackers do that to ensure that there's actually enough upload bandwidth and not just a bunch of leechers that only download but never contribute with their upload bandwidth.

vmception 6y ago
I understand the sentiment and I agree with that I don’t see any regulatory framework or statute or case law that matches it You can’t assume the rights holder is giving tacit consent to non-license holders to share. You can assume they are mitigating bandwidth constraints using the bittorrent protocols. Assuming the other seeders are pirates like “you” is the bad assumption here. Relying on autoseeding software to distort the legal reality is the bad assumption here (someone else mentioned this).
- washadjeffmad 6y ago
  How does one reconcile the existence of the private torrent feature, then?
  - vmception 6y ago
    A protocol can be used for anything. With torrents there is no one organization that has control over a proprietary piracy tool. That is how you reconcile it. If you are sharing things you dont have a license from the creator or another license holder to share, it is copyright infringement. If you are sharing things you have that authorization from then it is not.

behringer 6y ago

Downloading is copyright infringement if the uploader did not have the rights to give it to you. Just because it's not common for the rights holder to sue you as a downloader does not make it legal.

vmception 6y ago
That’s an interesting concept can you (or anyone passing by) share a corroborating source to support that?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

glandium 6y ago

> Downloading isn't copyright infringement Note this isn't universally true. For instance, download is copyright infringement in Japan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing_in_Japan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing_in_Japan