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klanga2049
11-14-2006, 04:35 AM
Hello,

Does anyone know of the associated legalities of running and maintaing a BitTorrent website which may in course comprise of illegal files. One example of such is The Pirate Bay (http://thepiratebay.org/). It is hosted in a country (Sweden) where it is not yet illegal to host trackers and torrents which contain copyrighted material.

If I were to start a BitTorrent Website would I be at risk of any unforeseen legal technicalities provided my website servers were residing in a country like Sweden?

Any insight would be muchly appreciated.

klanga2049
LeeU
11-14-2006, 09:38 AM
Yep. I would bet you will. And the way things are now, it might not take long. Why would you want to take the chance?

Curious, what makes you think that it is legal in Sweden to break international copyright laws?
NogDog
11-14-2006, 12:34 PM
And as in all such cases, my one recommendation is to contact a lawyer who specializes in this area. If you can't afford a lawyer, then you probably can't afford to lose a lawsuit (and have to depend on a public defender to try to save you). Making a legal decision based on a public forum like this probably is not going to stand up in court. :) (Even if Lee is possibly the closest thing we have to our own "Internet Attorney" here.)
LeeU
11-14-2006, 01:23 PM
NogDog,

You're 100% correct. Don't take the word of people on these or any other forum as law. It won't stand up and court. I always just assume (and shouldn't) that seeking professional legal help is mandatory. We can talk about it but, at the end of the day, it's still just that, talk.

I'm just always amazed at the risk people are willing to take just to make a few bucks...
the tree
11-14-2006, 01:25 PM
If I were to start a BitTorrent Website would I be at risk of any unforeseen legal technicalities...If you were absolutely certain that you were only hosting stuff that it is legal to distribute like that, then no.
LeeU
11-14-2006, 01:29 PM
Yes tree, but the rest of that sentence was
... which may in course comprise of illegal files.
the tree
11-14-2006, 01:38 PM
Damnit, I should read more carefully. In which case I would guess that keeping as tight a control as possible on illegitimate use would be the bare minimum, if you're going to do it at all.