confused
 

today i recieved an email from my internet provider that i was reported to them for a copyright infringement for a download from limewire. i checked this download and it is not copyright protected. i have the filters set up now and checked to see if i could download it again and it was going to let me. i am very comfused about this. if you have limewire and dont want people to download your files you should block it then, why would you report people for this? is it the person who has the file reporting people or is someone else doing this. can someone help explain this to me? i have used p2p programs for years and never had this problem before.

There are monitors set up by the movie an music industry to check if people are downloading or more-so 'sharing' copyright files. They then use their own means of checking which ISP's these users come from and will write to the ISP to ask them to send a letter to the user to stop sharing that file.

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/downlo...h-results.html has some links on who are involved.

so, you are telling me that it wasnt the person that has a limewire account it is some crazy monitor device/machine that is generating the report to my internet provider? so do you feel it is still ok/safe for me to continue to share/download from this person.

There are organisations sponsored by the RIAA, etc. to attempt to stop copyright sharing. These are the organisations responsible for the spam you find on the network. They may also act as a normal user uploading from those who are sharing copyright files such as the most recently released movies and music. That's how they know a person is sharing a particular file.

Is it safe? Not for me to say. After all you are attempting to obtain some copyright files without paying for them. Not all files on Gnutella network are copyright, depends what you are seeking. ;)

I'm guessing you are downloading torrents and not from the gnutella network?

i am downloading from the gnutella network. that was even named in my email from my isp. not sure what "torrents" are? thank you for your help. this is quite confusing.

I suggest you remove the particular file from your computer and then not upload any files for awhile, unless you are certain that there is no copyright infringement. (Remember, the contents your Incomplete folder are automatically shared while you are downloading them.)

I received a notice from Comcast after I had downloaded a CAM copy of a movie.
The three mistakes I made:
1. CAM copies are usually not very good at all - wait for the DVD.
2. CAM copies are especially targeted by the MPAA, since CAMs are most often copies of movies that are currently playing in theaters.
3. I did not purchase the video from an authorized source (happy, MPAA?).
It also turned out to be a lousy movie.

With music, one would expect that new releases are the ones targeted by the RIAA. However, older songs are also on the watch list. No doubt, some are those that no one would pay money to own, but are still connsidered popular. (Such as, Don't Worry, Be Happy)

While the entertainment industry is most concerned about uploaders, or seeders, some individuals have been sued for downloading copyrighted files. Bottom line: there is no safe way to break the law. The good news is that many recording artists, and some video producers, are now placing their prorperties into the public domain. If you like their work, send them some money and they'll produce more. Instead of 'purchasing a CD', you could be 'sponsoring an artist'. kewl


Torrents provide an alternate format for p-p filesharing, and are not limited to the Gnutella network. LW is capable of downloading torrents, but is banned from some torrent sites. There are better, free torrent downloaders, (such as Vuze and uTorrent).

thank you for the info! it is greatly appreciated.

i checked out these of sites. how are they different than limewire and do you consider them to be safer?

Torrent downloading is not safer; that was what I was doing when I got the notice from Comcast. However, torrents can be found all over the internet, rather than on just the Gnutella network.

More info here: Beginners Guide to using torrents.

Port forwarding is described in the above guide. It will speed up downloading, but it is not required.
Some movie torrents arrive as a number of .rar files. For those, just right-click on the first .rar in the list and extract the file. Within a few seconds all of the files will reassemble themselves into one or two .avi files.
Most torrent programs include a search feature. You can also search for torrents via your browser, (Google, etc.), and there are a few sites that will search multiple torrent sites for the files you seek. (For files you find via your browser, after you click "download this torrent", click "Open" - not "save", and then you will see the file appear in your downloads window).

thank you so much for all the info. it is greatly appreciated.