Is it actually illegal to download a torrent or stream films online?
Cinema admissions have been on the rise and there's also record numbers of subscribers to streaming services such as Netflix but 15% of internet users still download at least one item of "illegal" online content recent figures show.
There's evidently still a market for illegal viewing, though governments around the world are attempting to crack down on it.
In a recent UK court case, for example, four men were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, after they were found to have cost the film industry £7 million by sharing Hollywood films online before they were released in the cinema.
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The men had uploaded and shared content such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, reported the MEN.
The recent case however centred on those uploading the illegal content but what about the general public downloading or streaming such files?
Paul Bischoff, VPN expert at Comparitech, recently revealed all about the law on torrenting and streaming.
Is torrenting illegal?
No, explained Mr Bischoff, "but downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is."
Torrenting simply means to share any type of file and so there are legal services which exist.
The likes of BitTorrent, for example, is not illegal or unsafe in itself - but that doesn't mean all file sharing on the site is legal.
"The most popular trackers, such as ThePirateBay and KickassTorrents, however, operate in a legal grey area, offering users free access to copyrighted content," Mr Bischoff added.
What if I just download?
When using torrent sites, users are called peers - though they fall into two categories: leeches and seeds.
As Mr Bischoff explains, a leech uses a torrent file to download from other users on the network who already have such material (the seeds).
When a leech is finished downloading a file, they can become a seed - allowing others to download the file from their computer too.
In a legal sense, "seeding and leeching copyrighted material fall into different criminal categories," the tech expert revealed.
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"Think of it like buying illegal drugs: purchasing the drugs for personal use is definitely a crime, but a relatively minor one.
"Turning around and selling those drugs to others is a much more serious offense."
So from a law enforcement perspective, finding the original source would be the best case scenario - to prevent recirculation.
As Mr Bischoff concluded: "To avoid any legal ramifications, it’s best to simply not torrent."
What can happen if I'm caught?
The tech expert and journalist revealed that internet service providers and copyright trolls monitoring networks can take action if they catch you illegally torrenting.
This can range from a warning letter to slowing down your internet connection to even legal action - "although the latter is increasingly rare."
He added that "prosecution of torrent users has been sporadic" and the chances of going to court or paying a settlement are "pretty slim."
If incidents do transpire this far though, the penalties can be extremely high.
Is streaming content illegal?
Many people have moved away from downloading entire files via torrents, opting instead to stream content either on web browsers or through customised programmes like IPTV or Kodi - which we explain here.
Legally speaking, Mr Bischoff explained, you're probably still breaking the law when you stream copyrighted content from a pirated source.
This depends largely on your country, though in the UK it's outright illegal, he added.
"Laws tend to be more lenient toward streaming," the tech expert revealed, as it's "more difficult for copyright trolls and law enforcement to catch users in the act."
This is because, when you download a torrent, the IP addresses of everyone else you're uploading to or downloading from can be seen - but streaming transmits directly from a website with no third parties involved.
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