As just one example, many Linux distributions are made available using bitTorrent. Using any technology to download copyrighted material that you don’t have the right to is illegal.Īnd yes, bitTorrent and bitTorrent-like technology can most definitely be used for totally legal activities.Unfortunately, bitTorrent technology has become confused with illegal file sharing, simply because so much of that illegal activity uses that technology. In other words, downloading a copy of a file you don’t have the right to download is illegal, no matter how you do it. It doesn’t matter what technology you happen to use to do it: bitTorrent, FTP, web downloads, email, or even getting a CD or DVD in the mail. If the material is copyrighted, and you didn’t pay for or otherwise get the legal right or license to receive those files, you are in violation of copyright law. Illegal file downloadsĭownloading copyrighted files without permission is illegal. The problem comes when we consider exactly what kinds of files are being downloaded. In some ways, you could just as well ask “Is it legal to download files from the web?”, to which the answer is (obviously, I hope), of course it’s legal.

Similarly, the technology you might use to copy a file to your machine is not illegal. In general, copying a file to your machine is certainly not illegal. It’s highly efficient technology, optimized for large files and decentralized storage of downloaded files, but ultimately, it’s nothing more than a way to copy a file to your machine. It’s just file-transfer technologyīut here’s the catch: bitTorrent is nothing more than a technology used to copy files. And that’s more than likely what you’re asking. So while you might use the “.torrent” file to initiate a download, most people call the download itself a “torrent” as well. The word “torrent” is also frequently, though incorrectly, used to refer to the actual files being shared using bitTorrent. To be super pedantic about it, because the “.torrent” file itself has only some administrative information in it, there’s nothing wrong with downloading it.īut that, of course, is not what you meant. “ Torrent” files are, specifically, a small file of information used by a file-sharing technology known as “bitTorrent”. This is mostly just common sense with the high level concepts we’re talking about.) Please, realize I’m no lawyer, and this shouldn’t be taken as legal advice. (Caveat: I’m basing this on my knowledge of the current state of Copyright law. It’s quite legal to download torrent files.īefore you run off and start downloading last week’s bootlegged theatrical movie release, you really need to understand why that particular download, and others like it, probably are illegal.

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