just downloaded this thing called limewire. as i am typing i am downloading about 5 songs. is this legal? and i heard that you can get a lot of viruses from limwire, how can you prevent that?
2007-01-10 16:01:21 · 17 answers · asked by Lynn 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Internet
Limewire, and all peer to peer (p2p) software, is legal....for now. It is illegal to download copyrighted material.
There are ongoing legal battles between the software companies and the copyright holders. The court decisions have generally been that the companies are not responsible for the actions of their subscribers as long as they do not encourage or have blatant knowledge of illegal activity.
In short, if you are downloading the latest #1 single for free, you're probably breaking the law and you are individually responsible for that.
There are other issues as well. You never can tell what you are downloading from someone elses computer. Besides getting viruses (which you can fight with free scanners like AVG), you must be wary about downloading illegal content, such as child pornography. Many files do not reveal the actual content in the description. BEWARE.
p.s. if you do subscribe to a service, you might want to choose one such as the butterfly network that will allow you to download various p2p software for the price of one! This is almost certainly illegal, but anyone planning to subscribe to a p2p service is probably not too concerned about that.
2007-01-10 16:45:12 · answer #1 · answered by Oshun 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Limewire and other p2p programs are legal. Some have very legitimate uses, such as some mmorpg's using them to let people download their games without using their site. But downloading copyrighted stuff like music or movies is illegal. To avoid viruses don't download any .exe files. Also look at the download file size to see if it is reasonable (i.e. a music cd only being a few hundred kbs is probably not right). Also use a virus scanner regularly.
2007-01-10 16:14:26 · answer #2 · answered by dwn001 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I use limewire everyday. It is illegal in a way. Its not illegal to downlaod music its illegal to download copyrighted music wich is the common cd you would by at the store limewire is just file sharing all your doing is taking music from other people that alow you to. Also to prevent yourself from getting viruses dont download songs smaller than 3,000kb when you click on the song in the limewire program it will tell you what size it. Its fine to use limewire my whole family uses it. But I wouldnt recomend downloading anything other than music because you get viruses from downloading movies. enjoy it.
2007-01-10 16:18:18 · answer #3 · answered by Tim s 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Limewire itself is not illegal, and if you use it to download songs that you have already bought, that action is not illegal. The illegality comes from downloading comes from downloading songs that you do not own. As far as viruses go, you need some sort of antivirus software (you should have this anyway). There is a free one out there called AVG that has worked for me thus far. Here's the link for AVG (just look for their free version):
http://www.grisoft.com/
2007-01-10 16:07:55 · answer #4 · answered by Jack S 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Limewire is perfectly legal, until you use it. Then you are violating an assorment of laws. Use antivrus software whether or not you are downloading. EVERYONE should use virus protection. Not trying to be rude, but, being online without antivirus software is just as crazy as having sex with a crack wh0re without protection. You never know what you might get.
2007-01-10 16:08:00 · answer #5 · answered by CuriousMishawaka 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Limewire the program is legal, downloading someones work, songs, movies, software without permission isn't.
And yes you can get viruses from using limewire, but you are more likely to get spyware. Keep your anti virus up to date and run spyware checks regularly.
2007-01-10 16:06:17 · answer #6 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
whats that wording for not right and right? i get confused and limewire is wrong! You can get viruses but you can prevent it by when its taking too long to download OR the file size is small and get an anti-virus thing
2007-01-10 16:06:21 · answer #7 · answered by Ryan L 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
limewire (the program) is legal, but downloaded files are not legal. If the government catches u (small chance of it), you will have a $30,000 fine per downloaded file.
2007-01-10 16:07:26 · answer #8 · answered by Preston 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it doesn't matter if its legal/illegal whatever.just download what u want and if u have a good antivirus,use it to scan what u have downloaded and see if it has viruses,i use limewire to download movies only,NOT PORN,no no no that gives u lots of viruses. movies like the movies in cinema etc
2007-01-10 16:20:27 · answer #9 · answered by EspritRAIN 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Limewire is legal, And When I ran a virus scan not to long ago, I was watching it scan through my songs, And no virus came up..Just be carful whatcha download and you'll be fine =D
2007-01-10 16:05:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋