Will you get sued if you use Limewire?

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When a piece of work by an artist becomes available to the general public it is considered part of the 'Public Domain'. It can become part of the public domain for three reasons:

1) the term of the copyright has expired.

2) the orginal author failed to gain a satisficatory copyright.

3) it a work belonging to the United States government.

There are numerous sites available with information for songs that are currently in the public domain. A google search with the following key words 'public domain' and 'music' will yield thousands of hits with information. One of the many useful sites is http://www.pdmusic.org/ which gives a list of genres, artists, and songs that are currently available for public use.

You are subject to lawsuits if you violate these copyrights. Here is advice and input on the question of whether you will get sued for using LimeWire:

A) Seems like "sharing" and "downloading" are different. if you look into all these lawsuits, at LEAST the VAST majority are people that are allowing their computers to be used as "supernodes", and I would bet money that ALL of the lawsuits are against people that have a shared folder on their computer with copywrited files on it, and they are allowing people to download from THEM. If you don't SHARE the music that you DOWNLOAD, then these lawyers probably won't even give you a second look. They have MUCH bigger fish to fry, with all the fools out there sharing a million files a day off their "downloaded music" folder. (Of course, these are the same fools that keep programs like LimeWire and KaZaa from becoming a digital DESERT with no files on them, so I don't mean to sound UNGRATEFUL; I'm just saying those are the ones getting sued.)

B) If you download a dummy file

C) There is always the chance that you will be one of the unfortunate ones who are caught and made an example of. You have to decide if using Limewire or similar software in an illegal manner - and sharing music, software, or any other copyright protected material IS illegal - is worth the risk. Personally, it's not a risk I would be willing to take. Remember, just because "everyone else is doing it" doesn't change the fact that it is legally, morally and ethically wrong. People DO get caught and they DO get prosecuted. You obviously know it's wrong or you wouldn't be concerned, correct? Do the right thing and you won't ever have to worry about getting sued.

D) It seems to me that the record companies and their people are trying to intimidate everyone into believing that file sharing is illegal. If I own the CD, cassette, or vinyl LP, and if it is legal to download those songs - so I don't have to make MP3's myself, then everyone needs to know they can do that without threats from anyone. If that is not legal, then it should be a simple answer from the experts. What about X-mas music. Can the same song be copyrighted by many different people? What about classical music that was written 200 years ago. Copyrighted? Graphics, stories, spreadsheets and many many other documents are perfectly legal to share without interference from any law enforcement.

E) You might get sued if you use LimeWire. The program is legal. However, if you use it to download music and other programs, it is illegal. If you were downloading uncopyrighted music, then the program would be legal. However, since almost all music is copyrighted, the program is very illegal. LimeWire and Kazaa are file sharing programs. This means that the files that you can download on these programs are files that are being shared with billions of other people across the globe. If you have downloaded these programs into your hard drive, they are still shared programs. Because these programs are in your hard drive, they are still being shared, so essentially, your hard drive is being shared as well. If you have done any school assignments on your computer, these have your first and last name on them. This opens up your identity to the public. Also, because these files are still being shared from your hard drive, law enforcement can target your internet connection by using your IP (Internet Protocol) address, and using these numbers (of your IP address), they can target you. To see what I'm talking about, and to see just how scary this is, click on the link. If law enforcement finds you, you will probably have to pay a fine to all of the recording companies or distributors of the songs/programs that you have downloaded, and you may be sued.

F) Rule of Thumb- You get sued if you download and distribute, sell, share the music. You get fined if you download the music for personal use.

Is LimeWire Legal?

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http://communication.howstuffworks.com/limewire3.htm



http://pcwin.com/media/images/screen/74521-limewire_turbo.jpg

LimeWire, the software application, is completely legal. What many people do with LimeWire is namely downloading and distributing copyright material which is completely not legal. LimeWire's defense statement is that its software is a tool. Like any other tool, its use is dependent on the users. The same hammer that helps build a house can be used to break the back window and rob it. The person who sells the hammer can't be held responsible for how it's used, right?

But we're not talking about hammers. We're talking about software that millions of people use exclusively for illegally sharing copyrighted material. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2005 ruling against the maker of the file-sharing software Grokster and Morpheus, found that the company was intentionally positioning itself as a replacement for Napster (Grokster and Napster, for example, both have names that ends with "ster"). That was enough for the court to rule that Grokster and Morpheus encouraged their users to engage in illegal behavior.

In August 2006, several large record companies sued LimeWire for encouraging Internet piracy. They're asking for $150,000 for each song distributed without permission of, settled with the music industry for $115 million and installed special filters on its software to block copyright material. As of this writing, the case against LimeWire is still pending.

Even if LimeWire is found not guilty, its users are still vulnerable. Since September 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has initiated lawsuits against more than 20,000 individuals for alleged illegal file-sharing. The accused individuals receive a letter from the RIAA's lawyers with a settlement offer to avoid going to court. The individuals are identified by their IP addresses. If the individual refuses to pay the settlement which is typically between $3,000 and $11,000 then the RIAA threatens to sue them by name for a larger amount.

Even with the RIAA's legal assault on software companies and individuals, the number of active worldwide file-sharers continues to grow. And if LimeWire gets shut down tomorrow, there are already dozens of other programs poised to take its place.

Weekly Poll Result Analysis 3

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Based on the result, seven out of nine participants have agreed with Cyber Law has strongly affected their freedom in internet usage.

According to the first answer, Cyber law constraint us from entering certain web page, it comes with benefits and also disadvantages in different aspects. The advantage is that ensure internet user as much as possible to avoid unnecessary contact with unhealthy information, and even those web page which brings threat to society. From another point of view, this will cause a lot of inconvenience, because each country is different on the page limit. For example, Facebook and Blogger are banned in China however Facebook and Blogger are being so popular in Malaysia.

Without a proper approval or permission from original company for downloading can be known as illegal download. For example, from software, video, music to etc. Although almost every Internet users have some knowledge of Cyber Law and regulations, but the majority of users still insist on illegal downloading. The simple reason is because it is F.O.C, Free of Charge. Illegal downloading has against the law of Copyright and it brings negative effect on the industry development. However, internet users will still wish to get a free downloading compare to purchase it.

The biggest advantage of internet development is we can through the Internet to get the latest information to increase knowledge. However, Cyber Law such as copyright or Communication and Multimedia Act limit us in the use of information. For example, only allow free publish for part of the information. While internet users are feeling inconvenience, try to think it in another way. Such cyber law is to ensure that users are not misuse of available information and give community and author a protection.

Cyber Law brings some impact on internet usage but for some purely online chat users, or to the user only focus on a web page, they might think their freedom on internet usage will not be affected. In other words, they are not active on internet.

In short, most of the internet users find that it is difficult to understand and support the Government in developing cyber law, due to the freedom of internet usage do not be respected. In my opinion, I think as a internet user, we should try to stand in government’s shoe, for certain Cyber Law, it can really give us a protection however government need to give a compelling reason.

How You Can Work With Cyber Law to Protect Yourself

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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cindy_Block

A simple search online will bring up thousands of stories of people being defrauded by fake websites pretending to sell information to help you start your own business, or even memberships to get you started in your own internet business. But what is happening to the people who are responsible for these scams? Well, there are Laws that protect the consumer, but anyone with any real knowledge of the industry is aware that Information Technology law, the laws that govern internet usage is really in its infancy stage. However, the dominating effect that the internet has had on the community and popular culture has suddenly put Info Tech law into high gear.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/law/frankobel_photo/thelaw250.png?o=5

In the past year or so, the Federal Trade Commission has created laws that impact those who blog or try to sell things on the internet. People who blog are no longer able to write whatever they wish at will. Now they must say up front that their writings are opinions, and that they no way qualify as an expert. This is how Cyber Law works as a protection for internet user from misleading.

Unfortunately, this is not stopping the Google profits scam artists. If you search Google "home income," scam after scam still pops up. The reason is that these people actually know much more about Cyber Law and the new FTC regulations than the average consumer. The average consumer does not go to the Federal Trade Commission website before online shopping.

Cyber law is much like law in the real world just because stealing your purse is illegal, doesn't mean you are not at risk for it happening to you. You must be smart, watch the people around you, have your purse securely on your arm and even hold on the strap with your hand and show the muggers of the world that you won't be an easy target. The Federal Trade Commission or Cyber Law can only protect you once a crime has been committed. You, on the other hand, are the one who can prevent a crime from happening.

Case Study : Hacking & Cyber Law

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Case United States v. Morris, 928 F.2d 504, (March 7, 2001)

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ilaw/Cybercrime/

Morris was a first-year graduate student in Cornell University's computer science Ph.D. program and he entered Cornell, he was given an account on the computer at the Computer Science Division. This account gave him explicit authorization to use computers at Cornell.

In October 1988, Morris began work on a computer program, later known as the INTERNET "worm" or "virus." The goal of this program was to demonstrate the inadequacies of current security measures on computer networks by exploiting the security defects that Morris had discovered. The tactic he selected was release of a worm into network computers. Morris sought to program the INTERNET worm to spread widely without drawing attention to itself. Morris programmed the worm to make it difficult to detect and read in asking the question of having(yes) or not having(no) the worm copy, so that other programmers would not be able to "kill" the worm easily. As it turned out, Morris underestimated the number of times a computer would be asked the question, and his one-out-of-seven ratio resulted in far more copying than he had anticipated.

On November 2, 1988, Morris released the worm from a computer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT was selected to disguise the fact that the worm came from Morris at Cornell. Morris soon discovered that the worm was replicating and reinfecting machines at a much faster rate than he had anticipated. Ultimately, many machines at locations around the country either crashed or became "catatonic." When Morris realized what was happening, he contacted a friend at Harvard to discuss a solution. Eventually, they sent an anonymous message from Harvard over the network, instructing programmers how to kill the worm and prevent reinfection. However, because the network route was clogged, this message did not get through until it was too late. Computers were affected at numerous installations, including leading universities, military sites, and medical research facilities. The estimated cost of dealing with the worm at each installation ranged from $200 to more than $53,000.

Morris was found guilty, following a jury trial, of violating 18 U.S.C. � 1030(a)(5)(A). He was sentenced to three years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a fine of $10,050, and the costs of his supervision.

Weekly Poll Result Analysis 2

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Question:

How did you react to Cyber Law?

Answer 1: Ignore it.

Answer 2: Only concern when serious criminal activities involved.

Answer 3: Always follow every single Cyber Law rules & regulation.

Answer 4: I don't know

answer 5: None of these

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From the weekly poll survey, there are 10 respondents participated in answering the quick poll section from 26 Jan 2010, Tuesday to 31 Jan 2010, Sunday.





When the respondents are being questioned how they would react to Cyber Law, 20% or 2 out of the 10 people actually answered “I don’t know”. This shows that some of the internet user doesn’t concern about the law or they didn’t know that the laws exist. This is a very important issue because they might do some activities without knowing that it is actually illegal. We should increase the awareness towards these people because not only they will break the law; they might be the victim of internet crimes too. They should know the rights and wrongs in the cyberspace.

The majority answers of the respondents which is 60% or 6 out of 10 respondents answered is “only concern when serious criminal activities involved”. In our country, everybody doesn’t seem to care about an issue unless something had happened. This is actually very negative because people are not taking safety precautions. They should be advised to follow every rules and regulation whenever they are using the internet because this is for the user’s good. Everything will be too late when something had happened.

In the third answer, amazingly there are nobody who answered “follow every single cyber law rules and regulation”. This actually shows that none of the people actually follows the rules and regulation of cyber law in Malaysia. There must be certain reasons why the people don’t seem to care about these laws. Subjects regarding Cyber Law should be created to teach high school students and college students so that people will abide the law. This is the reason why in our cyberspace is so vulnerable to criminal activities and many people has became victim of frauds. Everybody who uses the internet have the responsibility to know about the rules and regulation.

In the fourth answer, there are 20% or 2 out of 10 people who answered “I don’t know”. They might be confused with the internet cultural that we have or maybe they wanted to react towards cyber law but there is not much information about it in Malaysia. There are nobody choose the last answer which is “none of the above”.

In conclusion, people don’t react well to Cyber Law. Cyber crimes is increasing and definitely we need more ways to increase the awareness about how important is cyber law. Ignoring the law may create more havoc and heavy punishment shall be given to the criminals who broke the law. If we can create a peaceful cyberspace it would improve the quality of the internet usage and people will have confidence and trust in internet commerce. We all know that internet is a very useful and powerful tool that human ever created. It is our responsibility to protect and preserve this tool but not abusing it.