Copyright strike.

by Guest Wed 23 Mar 2016, 09:55

I received an email for a copyright strike when downloading The Sims 3 from your downloads site. I do own the game digitally, I had a problem with an update not recognizing the game as being installed so I opted in uninstalling and using your torrent.

I am aware that on your site, it states that you do not share copyright related material, so I am here to share the news as of that is untrue. I have done my share of using your downloads for a number of years without trouble until now.

by **The_gh0stm4n** Wed 23 Mar 2016, 13:06

Addison3522 wrote:I received an email for a copyright strike when downloading The Sims 3 from your downloads site. I do own the game digitally, I had a problem with an update not recognizing the game as being installed so I opted in uninstalling and using your torrent.

I am aware that on your site, it states that you do not share copyright related material, so I am here to share the news as of that is untrue. I have done my share of using your downloads for a number of years without trouble until now.

//MOVED

Hello @Addison3522,

I moved your thread to the "Complaints"-subsection, and I'm sorry for what you experienced (even though you may not believe it). The purpose of the little sentence at the bottom of the downloads-page is really just to signify that the site/domain itself does not host any copyright-related material, which in turn is supposed to help avoid problems with the company hosting the site. But of course, as soon as you use the magnet-links or one of the torrent-files, you are essentially "re-directed" - namely to the network of peers and seeders: people who download/upload torrents. The Pirate Bay (and virtually all other torrent sites for that matter) don't host copyrighted material either - but they "re-direct" users by means of magnet links and/or torrent files. This is also a means of avoiding problems with real-life authorities. And besides: in order to actually host copyrighted material on the scale of e.g. the Piratebay, you would need a gigantic array of servers and bandwidth capabilities, the likes of which e.g. Google has. As you can imagine, having such a network + data plan isn't affordable for the average person, but that is just a sidenote.

I get that this sentence can be misleading for users who may not be "well-versed" in these matters, but what would you suggest as an alternative ? Something like "torrenting is illegal, and by using these torrents you implicitly take the risks associated with it" ? That could be an option, but I can foreseee that this will cause problems with the hosting company, that provides the hosting of the downloads-page.

Beyond that, isn't it clear anyway that by using these torrents, you are presumably aware of the possible consequences involved with that (with or without a special warning notice) ? In other words: you were most likely aware already that torrenting games was illegal.

This phenomenon of ISPs sending out warning e-mails/letters appears to be especially common in the US, and those countries that have close diplomatic and/or economic ties to the US (such as Israel, Germany or the UK too). But actual legal consequences are very rare - of course, it may be better in your case to not torrent anymore, at least not for a while. There are also services that mask your internet activity, including any filesharing-stuff, but you need to pay for them; that could be one theoretical option in the future for you. Or you could do some research on ISPs which are more 'lenient' in these matters, and possibly switch your Internet Service Provider then.

I'm sorry again that you feel saddened now because of the e-mail you received, but on the other hand (and as cynical as it might come across), we cannot take responsibility for any ISP-related or legal issues that users may encounter when using our torrents. What we can do, however, is provide tips on how to proceed further in cases like these. And again, even though I am unfamiliar with the proceedings in the US, it is extremely unlikely that you will encounter more problems beyond that - if you don't torrent anymore from your regular internet connection. But again, I don't know how this works in the US.

If you have any other ideas on how to "communicate" these matters more efficiently, feel free to share your ideas with us. I am aware that the majority of our users are - in a kind way - n00bish, but do we really have to state explicitly that torrenting is illegal and people need to accept all the risks involved in it, and that the G4TW-team rejects any liability for possible legal issues ? Not sure what to think about such a statement posted in public, but feel free to wait for @Admin's take on this matter, too.

by **Admin** Sun 27 Mar 2016, 01:18

Addison3522 wrote:I received an email for a copyright strike when downloading The Sims 3 from your downloads site. I do own the game digitally, I had a problem with an update not recognizing the game as being installed so I opted in uninstalling and using your torrent.

I am aware that on your site, it states that you do not share copyright related material, so I am here to share the news as of that is untrue. I have done my share of using your downloads for a number of years without trouble until now.

Hi there,

Thanks for your post!
Like Carlos stated, it's indeed a common thing in countries like the US. Unfortunately there's not much we can do about it, since the "rules" are different in each and every country.
Some countries don't mind their citizens downloading, and some countries are very strict when it comes to things like that.

The message on the Downloads page on www.games4theworld.org states that we do not host any copyright-related material on that server. So it's a bit complicated, but I can't elaborate on it too much. Suspect

The only way to prevent your ISP from seeing what you're downloading (and thus preventing those e-mails/letters), is by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). This encrypts all of your internet connections. Your ISP will be able to see that you're using bandwidth, but they can't see what you're actually downloading/uploading. (Because it's all encrypted)
We have a topic about VPNs here: https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t19329-free-vpn-that-s-reliable-and-doesn-t-require-proprietary-software (And my recent post HERE)

Please do let us know if you have any questions or concerns! Very Happy

by **The_gh0stm4n** Fri 20 May 2016, 09:24

That may come late now, but in case anybody is curious (and since a similar concern came up with another forum user here): uploading game/software torrents on the likes of MEGA and MediaFire is generally NOT an option for us, because as soon as we post the links in public, someone is going to report those filehosting accounts, and soon after they will be suspended.

Also noteworthy is that due to the amounts of data being transmitted in torrenting, the really good VPN services that also mask filesharing activities cost money. There are plenty of "free VPNs/proxies" out there, but they are only usable for surfing the web under a different IP address. Which in turn will be mostly interesting for people in countries with restrictive legislation on (online) communication and such.

On another note, in case of general navigational questions about the site(s), you are always welcome to write a team member a PM. We will gladly assist you through the navigation then. Smile

by **Admin** Sat 21 May 2016, 12:14

They don't really have to be expensive. You can get excellent VPNs for just €25 a year.

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