are bit torrents illegal?

[Kelvin]

Ok, so I'm getting linux on my computer and i have different download options and one of them is a bit torrent. Are bit torrents illegal or is it what comes with it?

 

[TrustTheBear69]

Torrents are file sharing similiar to peer-to-peer. The software itself is not illegal, it is what people choose to down load knowing it isn't legal.

 

[sage]

Bittorents themselves are not illegal, it is the data you hope to aquire as a means of your bittorent use that could be deemed illegal. For example to download a film you do not yourself own using a bittorent service. Beowolf Hamilton - signing out.

 

[CharlieKelly]

torrents are just a great way to distribute data, it lessens the load on the official ubuntu servers and lets everyone pitch in to distribute the file.

World of Warcraft's updater apparently also uses torrents to update the game of clients. It's a smart move, I'm not sure if the updater also uploads, but if it does it would save them a lot of bandwidth.

 

[DMcC]

using torrents themselves is not illegal, it is what some people download that is illegal but to download linux is perfectly legal, it is only illegal if you are breaking any laws and to download linux you are not breaking any laws, it is one of the ways linux is distributed

 

[Elian]

Bittorrent software itself is not illegal, but pirating software off the internet is.

-Elian

 

[rohan]

No sir, not in the slightest illegal! But if you're using them to download pirated content... well, that's a different story Having one, however, will not get you in trouble.

 

[EricK1]

Bit torrents are simply another method of downloading and uploading files, there is nothing inherently illegal about them.

The content you are torrenting may be protected by various copyright/intellectual property laws though; you'll have to check the applicable statutes in your country. For example, in the USA, downloading copyrighted movies is illegal, while downloading Linux iso images is not, since they are free to distribute under the GPL.

 

[EthantheSuspended]

BitTorrent programs themselves are not illegal. Many companies use BitTorrent as a platform to easily distribute demos of their software, and some musicians use it to give people access to their music. With that being said, a vast, vast majority of BitTorrent downloads are illegal. Many of the them are so hot, in fact, that they get taken down by the federal government. Even if you use BitTorrent programs and their downloads for exclusively legal content, be warned that BitTorrent programs tend to slow down computers tremendously. If you must have BT, do not have it auto-load on start-up, and only have it open when you are leeching files.

Hope this helps. )