Is it illegal

[Richie]

To post links on my websites to illegal downloads hosted by rapidshare? If i didn't upload the file to rapidshare but link it to others can I still get in trouble?

[xxMATTGxx]

I believe it still may be classed as sharing illegal content, but uploaders are the ones who they normally go after.

[Recursion]

To post links on my websites to illegal downloads hosted by rapidshare? If i didn't upload the file to rapidshare but link it to others can I still get in trouble?

Depends on the country, usually no. Although you might be done for aiding copyright infringement or some rubbish,

[peteyt]

I think you could get done for it because in a sense your website is a host, a host of the links - They may be on another site and someone else posted them but your still giving people access to them. If your host found this out they could possibly close your site down (read their terms and conditions). The chances obviously of getting caught obviously are rare but that doesn't make it legal.

[Chippiewill]

Yes it is illegal but they'll send you a cease and desist long before that happens.

[GommeInc]

It doesn't really matter on legality, the country of origin (e.g. United States of America) will actively seek you out and punish you. Although you are not hosting the content, you are sharing it or pointing people in the right direction. You're supporting file sharing either way.

[iMe,]

Yes No.

Edited by Jordan (Forum Super Moderator): Please post constructively

[HarrySX]

Depends --- I always compare it to Google. You're technically doing what Google do, so if/when SOPA (or a variation of) were to have passed, you'd potentially have your website shut down if residing in a country that confines to US laws.

[peteyt]

Depends --- I always compare it to Google. You're technically doing what Google do, so if/when SOPA (or a variation of) were to have passed, you'd potentially have your website shut down if residing in a country that confines to US laws.

I think it'sconsiderablydifferent. I believe any site can add itself into Google and with millions of sites doing this daily they can't keep up. However if your actually pointing illegally to stuff on purpose e.g. you add the link in and know the link is illegal then this is different. As I said earlier it's rare at the moment to get caught but they are starting to crack down more on it.

[HarrySX]

I think it'sconsiderablydifferent. I believe any site can add itself into Google and with millions of sites doing this daily they can't keep up. However if your actually pointing illegally to stuff on purpose e.g. you add the link in and know the link is illegal then this is different. As I said earlier it's rare at the moment to get caught but they are starting to crack down more on it.

And how, in court, will the prosecutors distinguish between links that have been automatically harvested by spiders and those those that have been manually added. :)

It's really a grey area and there are different arguments and point of views.


I can tell this will be a good discussion.:dance:

[Chippiewill]

It's all about intent, the only reason Google doesn't want to remove this stuff from searches is because they want to say the searches produced are impartial and unaltered.

[peteyt]

And how, in court, will the prosecutors distinguish between links that have been automatically harvested by spiders and those those that have been manually added. :)

It's really a grey area and there are different arguments and point of views.


I can tell this will be a good discussion.:dance:

It depends. If the original poster actually created an illegal downloading site then there would be too much evidence as it would be obvious what the site was for. If he's just hosting a couple of illegal stuff but that isn't the site's main purpose then yeah he could deny it, but at the same time its risky.