Quote Originally Posted by Chilihost View Post
I think the BIG difference here is that pirated movies are illegal in most countries including NL, so the DOJ can ask locals to take action based on the local laws. However, 2257 does not have reciprocating laws anywhere else in the world.

Actually, I think there's very little difference. In this case the US acted on the premise that piracy is illegal worldwide, but so is CP. (remember they're doing all this to protect the kids).

I'm not an expert on bittorrent, but I do know a little. Torrent search sites do not carry or share copyrighted files at all. They usually have searchable database of very small, basically text files, which are called torrents. When downloaded, a torrent file is loaded into a bittorrent client (residing on user's PC), and it merely gives the information about the size, number of parts etc. However, the requested file (a movie in this case) is then downloaded and uploaded directly between the users without mediation of any website. Btw. The bittorrent file sharing system is not illegal anywhere in the world.

As far as I know, the site in question didn't have Star Wars III film ready for download. If it had had it, it wouldn't have been called bittorrent site. It probably only published the torrent file for this movie (<1 kb text file), but since they were the first, and Lucas was very very angry, somebody had to pay the price or serve as an example.

This torrent can still be found just about everywhere. Try isohunt dot com, for instance. You'll find not only this torrent, but also several rips taken directly from DVD (in various picture qualities).

It's now taken for granted that torrents themselves are not illegal, but if you're caught sharing a copyrighted file with someone, you may be in trouble.