Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoopZ
I'd never download something dodgy via newsgroups if i couldn't use SSL so for me a paid newsgroup provider is a far safer option, but each to their own!  |
SSL is as useful as a chocolate fireguard when most people are downloading nzb's over insecure connections anyway. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to put 2+2 together and come up with probable cause when an nzb for lost is downloaded and then there's a stream of SSL'd newsgroup traffic.
Anyway it's all academic, no one has ever been prosecuted for downloading something dodgy via anything, and for good reason, the act of receiving an infringing copy of a copyright work is in itself not illegal, only the act of making and distributing the copy is.
I'd be more than willing to argue my case in court, and the rights holders know they wouldn't win a case against a pure downloader, which is why they have only ever targeted people they know are distributing over p2p.
The more interesting thing for me though is that people paying for newsgroup providers, newzbin etc, shows that people DO have an appetite to pay for the content, if the studios got together and offered a comparable service for a comparable price (quite possibly even costing slightly more) then many people that pay for newsgroups now would probably use it. Hell bundle it with TV services, I'd pay VM for an on demand service that had a back catalogue to the extent of what is available on newsgroups.