Bittorrent Troubles

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  1. #31

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    Wait... I thought BT is illegal in HK and the gov't is hunting down users! IS this true?


  2. #32

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    A lot of BT is a totally legal way of file transfer. Many legit sites use it as a system.


  3. #33

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    Have you guys been using BT to download games and music and movies? For how long now? I stopped downloading when I heard the news of a HKer being arrested for uploading movies to a BT server. And they said that they are going to write letters to BT users to stop using it or be charged with criminal activities.


  4. #34

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    If you are uploading movies and putting stuff out there, you could be in trouble.


  5. #35

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    Do they monitor downloads as well?


  6. #36

    I dont think they moniter downloads .just dont upload.Avoid downloading HK movies and you will be fine .


  7. #37

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    Just a quick point on "uploading". My understanding of BitTorrent is that people don't need to "upload" a movie or whatever in the traditional sense (i.e. they don't have to create a copy on a shared server). Instead people register their files with a tracker and then share ("seed") the file for others from their own PCs/servers. If you explicitly register a copyrighted file with a tracker you are drawing very specific attention to your own breach of copyright.

    However, everyone should be aware that even if you don't register files and even if you don't leave your PC on 24x7 helping to seed files you've already downloaded, you will still be seeding a file for the period during which you are downloading it. So there is always a risk for everyone downloading and storing any copyrighted material.

    I can't really comment on what they monitor here in HK but from the numbers mentioned in the news, it doesn't seem much different to the UK for example.


  8. #38

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  9. #39

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    world's first

    wonder how that happened?

    Generally thd HKSAR Govt's reaction is that 'If it has not been done yet then how you we know if it is advisble'

    If has been done elsewhere then the reaction is ' Yes it has been done in the West but how do we know it will work in HK conditions?'

    How will we ever live this one down?

    from the unlinkable SUMP

    BitTorrent ruling puts downloaders at risk, says expert

    RAVINA SHAMDASANI and STUART BIGGS


    The world's first criminal conviction of a BitTorrent user may have opened the doors to making even downloaders of files through the technology criminally liable, an expert in computer science and law has warned.

    The warning came as Chan Nai-ming, who used the alias "Big Crook", was convicted by Tuen Mun magistrate Colin Mackintosh yesterday of three charges of attempting to distribute three Hollywood films - Daredevil, Miss Congeniality and Red Planet - using BitTorrent file-sharing technology.

    Sentencing was adjourned to November 7 and Chan released on bail, but the magistrate did not rule out imprisonment - the offence carries a maximum four-year jail term - despite the defence lawyer's calls for a non-custodial sentence such as a community service order.

    Mr Mackintosh rejected defence lawyer Paul Francis' argument that Chan only "made available" copies of the films and could not be accused of distribution.

    "The defendant loaded the files into his computer, he created the .torrent files, created the images of the inlay cards and imprinted them with his logo, the statuette; he published the existence of the .torrent files, and the names of the films in question, on the newsgroup," the magistrate said. "He said in effect, `Come here to get this film if you want it'. His acts were an essential part of the downloading process and ... amounted to distribution."

    But Kevin Pun Kwok-hung, associate professor of computer science and law at the University of Hong Kong, pointed out that BT technology works with the downloaders also automatically becoming uploaders, and questioned the wisdom of launching criminal prosecutions against users of such technology instead of leaving it to businesses to take civil action. "If you say by placing something on the internet, you are committing a crime, you are saying all BT downloaders are criminals because their computers are downloading and uploading," he said.

    "The key issue is whether placing something on the internet amounts to distribution, but I personally don't find the legal argument convincing - it amounts to authorisation but not distribution."

    Connie Carnabuci, a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and head of its Asia intellectual property and information technology practice, said the ruling did not extend criminal liability to individual downloaders, but focused on "the attempt to distribute copies of copyrighted material".

    "I think it's a fantastic ruling, especially for the copyright owners in Hong Kong," she said. "That an individual could go to prison may provide a policy platform for the police to educate people that this kind of activity is theft."


  10. #40

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    spoilsports!


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