how illegal are torrents?

[douglasb]

i want to download heroes season 3 and have found loads of websites offering it but they are all torrents.
aren't torrents illegal? especially as its heroes which will be copyrighted?
is there anywhere i can download heroes from that isnt illegal?
cheers

[shaithis]

Torrents are not illegal.

You will be breaking IP property laws by downloading the content that the torrent refers to though.

Doesn't BBC iPlayer have Heroes listed?

[douglasb]

Torrents are not illegal.

You will be breaking IP property laws by downloading the content that the torrent refers to though.

Doesn't BBC iPlayer have Heroes listed?

how illegal is breaking IP property laws?

i already have episodes 1 to 4 which i got of a friend who downloaded them (probably with a torrent) he should have more after 1/2 term so im quite happy to wait untill next time i see him.

iv already seen all the ones on BBC iplayer (up to episode 5)

[Zak33]

bish bash bosh....closed.

I have no idea of the legality of torrent software, prolly good as gold really. But as to your right to download the material and not buy it... I'm not happy about that, thats all wrong, and so the large CLOSE button it being hit right now.

Sorry, and at least you asked

[Saracen]

Just to clarify, torrents themselves aren't illegal. But the content of them often, perhaps usually, is. In and of itself, torrents are just another method of file distribution. If I create a small movie, I own the copyright, and there's nothing to stop me sticking it in a torrent if I wish. But if I sell you a copy (with the usual licence restrictions), you can't shove it up on a torrent or not legally anyway.

As for how illegal it is to break IP laws, it depends how you break them, and who you are, and exactly what you do. At one end of the spectrum, it's a civil infringement and might get you sued. Serious examples of that, usually involving either extensive downloading or worse yet, uploading, can cost you many thousands. At the other end of the spectrum, you have dedicated police and trading standards units tracking down counterfeit goods, which is an illegal industry worth very serious money, certainly running into hundreds of millions on an international basis, and you can end up in jail, with some potentially very long sentences.

So it's a very wide range. What you're suggesting is at the minor end of that but the problem is, minor or major, it's illegal and we don't allow discussion of it here.

As has been suggested, your best bet is iPlayer. I'm sure I've seen Heroes on iplayer on a VM TV box, if you have one.