Newsgroups

Question: Are newsgroups illegal?

(Posted by: ramone35 on 2008-10-30 09:57:29)

I download from usenet newsgroups from a service that I pay $15 a month for. I always thought it was legal since i'm paying for it and not getting content for free. so what's the deal?

Posted by: Random Time on 2008-10-30, 10:02:10

Usenet usegroups are leigal, but if you download music that is put there illigally, the downloading of such content is illigal

Posted by: amybeader on 2008-10-30, 10:04:50

Usenet newsgroups are perfectly legal. What makes you think they are illegal?

Posted by: roo2 on 2008-10-30, 10:10:57

Newsgroups are legal. Downloading any file that's under copyright (commercial music, movies, software etc)without paying for it is illegal. It doesn't matter how you do it, the act itself is a crime. You're paying for access to a service, not for the files. If you're using newsgroups to download open source software, home movies, or music by unsigned bands looking for an audience then it's legal. But if it's commercial software, music or movies then it's illegal. It's copyright infringement. The penalty is a fine between $750.00 and $150,000.00 per file and up to five years in prison.