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Questions tagged [online-piracy]

75 questions
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How do people publicly admit to criminal activity and not typically get arrested?

I've noticed that people on YouTube and even on TV would sometimes say things like "I used to take lots of coke a few years ago" or "I used to smoke weed daily until this and that" or "Yea, I smoke weed every once in a while," or "I used to pirate…
Jack
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Is it illegal to backup your hard drive if you have copyrighted software on it?

Is it illegal if you create a backup of an HDD that has copyrighted software installed on it? This could be anything from legally purchased games and or expensive popular graphics/video editing programs, just as an example. Is this backup an illegal…
LateralTerminal
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Is it legal to track users of pirated software?

I'm making a piece of software right now, and I'm just doing it in my free time, so I'm not too serious about it. I want to make a version of the software and put a tracker in it that interfaces with Google Analytics. That will allow me to track…
Byte11
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Is downloading YouTube videos legal?

I've always been under the assumption that doing such was illegal. I don't see any difference between downloading music from YouTube and downloading music from The Pirate Bay. Apparently, there is this Software Recs SE question that talks precisely…
BCLC
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Why are there so many YouTube to MP4 and MP3 download websites online when it is illegal?

If it is illegal to download videos and audios from YouTube due to copyright reasons, why are there so many YouTube to MP4 and MP3 download websites online? For example, https://freevideotomp3.com/, one could reason about them just providing a way…
PedroD
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Is it piracy to obtain software you purchased in an alternate way?

Lets say you purchased software in the 90s or early 2000s, but lost the license key and or the disc. Another possibility is the company is no longer supporting and or does not provide older versions of its software. What you do have: the receipt…
LateralTerminal
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Is it legal to download movies in Canada?

For years Canada has been known as a pirates' safe haven, but copyright in Canada has been going under huge reform for the past few years, and it's been hard to keep up with all the changes. With the new updated copyright laws, is it legal to…
ShemSeger
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Are "Plex servers" as they seem to be commonly used actually illegal?

There's a piece of software called "Plex" that basically lets you operate your own private streaming service. You load it up with music and video files, and then you can connect to it from your phone or TV or laptop and play them back. As I…
interfect
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What stops stolen software from offering a valid license?

A common pattern in software distribution is to have an installer program that pops up and offers the user a license to the software, and prompts the user to accept it. This End User License Agreement will almost always include a term explicitly…
interfect
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Does a shareholder of a company also have copyright rights?

If I buy, say, a share in The Walt Disney Company, does that give me part ownership in the intellectual property? Does this ownership then give me the right to copy it?
danuker
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How legal is offering abandonware for download?

A quick background to my project (it's essential to the question, as you'll see later): My project offers a multiplayer server platform for server listings for a game (Crysis Wars), allowing players to connect to these servers (note that it's not a…
AStopher
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Legal Backups: Can copies of other owners' backups be used?

Many legal systems protect the rights of legal owners of copies (of copyrighted works) to backup these copies. If I own a DVD or a book, I can* rip that DVD and scan that book to a PDF. But what if you are not an expert on video codecs, or do not…
Jonathon
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Can I inspect websites' source in teaching video?

As a web developer, I find that we can learn a ton about HTML, CSS and JavaScript by opening the Developer Tools in Chromium and inspect elements, seeing the names other developer choose for their CSS classes, how some effects are achieved,…
Vince Varga
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John Green once searched something up on a pirated copy of his own book in the US. Is piracy like that illegal even then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVN9nenCGwM So John had mistakenly believed that there was a quote from Paper Towns, which he wrote and so Hank and his companies made merchandise out of the quote. He then found out that someone claimed he never said…
R-Obsessive
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Is downloading a Youtube video legal in this situation?

Having read through the Youtube ToS, it states: Content is provided to you AS IS. You may access Content for your information and personal use solely as intended through the provided functionality of the Service and as permitted under these…
wot
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