why is kazaa illegal

[SuperNYK992]

exsuce me but why is kazaa illegal? it says its legal on the website. Just curious

[Ipodium]

Doh !

Welcome to planet earth man. Remembe a cat called Napster ? well, Kazaa came from the same petshop.

[jwc110869]

kazaa isn't illegal, its just software.

sharing copyrighted material............ thats illegal. And thats what most kazaa users do, swap protected music, video, and software.

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by jwc110869
kazaa isn't illegal, its just software.

sharing copyrighted material............ thats illegal. And thats what most kazaa users do, swap protected music, video, and software.

To expand on this, this is why the entertainment industry is lobbying so hard to get Congress in the US to make P2P software itself illegal, but as of today and, hopefully, as of tomorrow it is regarded for what it is: a neutral tool. The concept of P2P is brilliant and a great for putting the power of mass distribution of files in the hands of the end users. However, since there are no moderators and no policing of what files people choose to share a lot of copyrighted material gets shared along with perfectly acceptable public use files.

[AndrewHarrison]

kazaa itself is not illegal, as it does not monitor in any way what data is transferred via it's software.
napster kept a database of all the available files, which meant that it knew [and hence condoned the sharing] of illegal files.

[newtype]

The above posters said it best. I cant recall ever reading that "Kazaa is illegal"... Besides, there are far better P2P networks. *cough*BitTorrent*cough*

[Madkins007]

Check me if I am wrong, but while the actual downloading annoys RIAA, but it is the uploading they are going after actively.

If I copy a CD, DVD, etc. for you without somehow disabling my original, I am at far greater risk legally than you are. *I* am the one who broke the copyright.

If you just post for sharing music and files you have a right to post (approved by the artist/author, public domain, etc.), then you are reasonably safe.

If you just post AND download such files, you are perfectly safe!

[jwc110869]

Originally posted by Madkins007
If you just post AND download such files, you are perfectly safe!

I don't think I would go out on that limb, by saying donloading is perfectly safe.

The children in the Apple ad just downloaded and got busted hard.

With that said, the RIAA is focusing on the uploaders more so than downloaders, and thats why you see so many people not participate in kazaa or whatever other form, and just want to download without offering any file access on their computer.

If you involve yourself in sharing copyrighted material you risk the possibility of prosecution, however small it might be.

[mump99]

The kids in the Apple ad were busted for making files available for upload, meaning the songs were left in their shared folder, regardless of whether they were downloaded or ripped from their collection. The RIAA cannot, as a practical matter, go after someone for downloading songs. How would they know? It's not like Kazaa or the ISP's will let them snoop!

To escape scrutiny, all you have to do is archive your music in a non-public folder. After you download something, move it. Simple as that.

[Madkins007]

The context of my comment was:

"If you just post for sharing music and files you have a right to post (approved by the artist/author, public domain, etc.), then you are reasonably safe.

If you just post AND download such files, you are perfectly safe!"

You ARE safe if all you do is upload and download public domain and/or approved works.

Downloading copyrighted work is illegal, but really REALLY hard to act against! Sort of like copying songs off radios or CDs borrowed from the library.

you get paid for the work you do right?

[Madkins007]

Originally posted by punk
you get paid for the work you do right?

Heck, no. Not all of it.

I mean, sure, I get paid for my 8-5 job, but I don't get paid for anything else I do in life.

And- can people use the results of my work and share it with friends without me making any more money? Sure. Hapens all the time at work. I fix something and show the client how to do it themselves and they show their buddies... or they learn my sources, etc. I really don't expect to get paid by everyone in the 'downstream', do you?

I also don't get paid for most of the art I create, no matter how many people look at it and appreciate it and copy it.



I am NOT debating that the worker is or is not worthy of their pay- far from it- I think bands DO deserve their fair share AND I think illegal downloads are indeed illegal.

All I am doing is debating that particular line of reasoning.

[phr3do]

my views on "illegal" music downloading.

just like drugs on the streets. the goverment will try to regulate it, but its always gonna be out there, theres no stopping us.

but wat makes me mad is, they make it seem like the artist isnt getting anything out of it and make it seem like its not about the money, ofcourse its about the money.
- wats the diff. between me burning a copy of a cd and giving it away to a friend and me going to a local restaurant and sharing a soda with a friend .... in both cases they are "loosing" money. cuz if people werent downloading, they would obviouslly have to buy it. and if it wasnt for my friend and i sharing a drink, he would have to go and buy his own.

obviouslly theres alot more to it then that. sharing music, ur sharing with the world and not just 1 other person. but its the same thing, at a much smaller scale.

[Commodus]

Originally posted by phr3do
my views on "illegal" music downloading.

but wat makes me mad is, they make it seem like the artist isnt getting anything out of it and make it seem like its not about the money, ofcourse its about the money.
- wats the diff. between me burning a copy of a cd and giving it away to a friend and me going to a local restaurant and sharing a soda with a friend .... in both cases they are "loosing" money. cuz if people werent downloading, they would obviouslly have to buy it. and if it wasnt for my friend and i sharing a drink, he would have to go and buy his own.

Sharing a drink with someone isn't the same at all. When you do that, you're not having the whole drink; you and your friend are splitting it in two. Not to mention that it would be foolish (and likely impossible) for any drink vendor to stop you from sharing a drink!

With music, burning a CD or making it available to others on a P2P network is making an exact (or at least near-exact) copy. It would be like ordering two drinks at the restaurant but only leaving money for one of them when you pay your tab. Just because you technically can burn a copy so someone can own it without paying doesn't mean that it's okay - the artist isn't getting paid.

I don't like how the record labels take a lot of the potential profit away from the artist when they don't need to, any more than you might. But you're not sticking it to The Man??? by burning a copy for a friend or sharing your music folder on Kazaa. You're just giving other people one less reason to actually give money to the artist.

[Rexstjames]

Originally posted by mump99
To escape scrutiny, all you have to do is archive your music in a non-public folder. After you download something, move it. Simple as that.

But that's exactly what the evil RIAA is going for. Obviously, if everyone did this, the network would collapse.
The good part (for file-sharers) is that there are plenty of people sharing music that don't live in the USA, and are outside the RIAA's jurisdiction. I've heard it said that even if every single person in the US stopped sharing files over these networks, the difference would be so small as not even to be noticeable to anyone using the networks.

Oh, and yes. Kazaa is not illegal. Downloading and uploading copyrighted music is, and I don't think the RIAA has ever gotten on anyone for downloading only. Unless they "share" their own music, they wouldn't be able to tell if anyone has downloaded copyrighted material, and if the RIAA were to share the music, it wouldn't be illegal to download it from them, because they have the right to distribute it. Therefore, the only thing you'll ever get busted for is uploading.