Downloading Copyrighted Material From The Internet

[calippo]

Hello, I'd like to know how dangerous is to download movies and TV shows from the internet using peer to peer or such.
I'd just like to download from time to time tv series for children in italian, but I don't want to risk everything for it... if you know what I mean.
Of course I know it is an illegal practice but I would like to know, in practical terms, how risky it really is.
Thank you

 

[User#16452]

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[calippo]

nothing like that, just serialized european or american children shows in italian, for my 6 y o ....
I have a paid subscription to Netflix, but when I am in Japan, oddly it shows only japanese dramas

 

[nedar]

Netflix is region-locked, something about region specific copyrights.

For your original question, the policing is from the internet provider side, had a friend receive a letter about torrenting a Hollywood movie. If your traffic looks suspicious, they check up on you.

If you know how to control your download/upload speeds then give it a shot. If not, I recommend finding a VPN service (which also solves the Netflix issue).

 

[MikeH]

I recommend finding a VPN service (which also solves the Netflix issue).

VPN is good advice but doesn't anymore solve the Netflix problem. They have started to block all known VPN address ranges.

 

[nedar]

VPN is good advice but doesn't anymore solve the Netflix problem. They have started to block all known VPN address ranges.

Thats a shame...think they got a lot of (corporate) complaints about people circumventing the region locks. I was using a browser extension to get US Netflix but that was the first thing they shutdown. Think thats why they invested so much in producing original content. If they own it, no one can complain

 

[veryniceguy]

Personally, I think if one wants to watch or listen to something that has required a huge investment to create, it should be paid for. The illegal download sites, especially for music, have been strangling the music industry and the creators for years now..... Would you shoplift a DVD or CD from a store? It's the same thing......

 

[User#8628]

Personally, I think if one wants to watch or listen to something that has required a huge investment to create, it should be paid for. The illegal download sites, especially for music, have been strangling the music industry and the creators for years now..... Would you shoplift a DVD or CD from a store? It's the same thing......

True but some things can't easily be bought. Like this guy would pay for netflix but they don't have what he wants.
You can order dvds online but thats pretty old fashioned already and you go through those fast.
Some shows are very difficult to find somewhere to watch, even paid.

 

[calippo]

True, I am very willing to pay, but what I need it's simply not available.

 

[TheHunter]

Personally, I think if one wants to watch or listen to something that has required a huge investment to create, it should be paid for. The illegal download sites, especially for music, have been strangling the music industry and the creators for years now..... Would you shoplift a DVD or CD from a store? It's the same thing......

I am a content creator. While I agree with your intentions of this message (thank you), and that content should be paid for, I completely disagree with the statement regarding shoplifting. Most people would not shoplift a DVD or CD anymore than they would a VHS, simply because its irrelevant to the current time, and could publicly shame themselves in doing so. In shoplifting case, you have an immediate consequence if caught. It only directly hurts the shop owner of the retail establishment (label and royalty holders have already been compensated), while downloading only hurts the label and royalty holders. Digital vs physical merchandise is something that is still evolving. We are no longer in a "per album/song sold" market, but in a number of "downloads / shares/ likes / tags/ comments/ stars" market. Music and movie industry already made changes to accommodate this, and is why many monthly cloud services and "itunes" style marketplaces are becoming the standard. Because of this, access to digital content that the industry is providing, is essentially easier to download (if needed), faster to find, without viruses, with higher quality, and legal.

Government doesn't have the time to go after every single user for downloads, but are focused on distributors of illegal contents.
Finally, in Japanese law, Music, Movies, and Games (software) have different categories for its content laws, unlike some other countries. All are illegal for downloading without compensation. You can rent a CD and copy it to your computer legally (royalties paid to JASRAC by rental companies), while copying a rented DVD is not legal, and renting or copying of software (games) is not legal.

 

[rick]

Zero risk at all.

The "worst case" I heard of was a guy who was contacted by his ISP and told to stop torrenting. They had been informed by a third party that such sites were being accessed from that ISP in a high volume. And that was in America...

It wasn't even a slap on the wrist. You shouldn't be worried unless you are uploading content or hosting a site where people get download links from.

To be fair, I do buy records, CDs, cassettes and videotapes if I can't torrent them.

 

[Blimon]

First as suggested I would get a VPN and get a provider that does not keep logs.

Then read these two articles.
https://torrentfreak.com/japan-police-arrest-44-in-nationwide-internet-piracy-crackdown-160224/

https://torrentfreak.com/anti-downloading-law-hits-japan-up-to-2-years-in-prison-from-today-121001/

From personal experience I did receive a letter from my ISP about downloading material because they were contacted by Paramount pictures. The letter read that if it happened again they may shut of my service, however I could also find another provider.
For those who want to torrent. I recommend Torrenfreak for news and reviews of VPN's free and paid. Most cost about $50.00 a year and are well worth it. As a American in Japan in enjoying content from the U.S. is great, no geo-blocking here.

 

[RandomTokyoGuy]

Personally, I think if one wants to watch or listen to something that has required a huge investment to create, it should be paid for. The illegal download sites, especially for music, have been strangling the music industry and the creators for years now..... Would you shoplift a DVD or CD from a store? It's the same thing......

The real pain in the ass is that some copyright holders simply block those. Japanese movies or drama outside of animals are almost non existent in Europe. I would have registered with Netflix or any similar service asap if there was a way to access japanese content.

Having to order dvds or blue rays from Hk is really mendokusai.

 

[NormalGuy]

For me, I don't see why you would want to take the risk, if I recall correctly you are not even in the country yet, but are already looking at ways of breaking the law.

I definitely don't agree with the "shoplifting" comparison, as downloading something unavailable here (but available everywhere else) is not the same as stealing something for sale. If content providers want to stay in the dark ages, delivering content at different times, at different price points globally then they need to be partially responsible for people trying to source it alternatively.

i used to do a lot of downloading back in my home country, mostly TV shows that were available elsewhere anyway. When I came here I found there was a lot more to do, and watching TV in Japanese is so much more beneficial to learning that I don't miss it at all.

Sure, you can use VPN's, newsgroups, anonymity is relatively easy, but, I guess if you're moving here then the thought of being deported is not a pleasant one, and you are only one crime away from that consequence. is watching a movie for free something that you'd want to turn your life upside down over?

Everyone thinks they will get away with it, most people do.

 

[Blimon]

Sure, you can use VPN's, newsgroups, anonymity is relatively easy, but, I guess if you're moving here then the thought of being deported is not a pleasant one, and you are only one crime away from that consequence. is watching a movie for free something that you'd want to turn your life upside down over?

Really? On an adult forum which most people are looking for a FS option. I would say most of us are one crime away .

 

[NormalGuy]

Really? On an adult forum which most people are looking for a FS option. I would say most of us are one crime away .

The things discussed on this forum are totally legal, even having FS with a provider is legal in certain situations (soaplands, tobita etc.). There is a grey area where most adult related areas fall into.

Now show me a shop in Tokyo openly selling pirated DVDs and there may be a comparison, but downloading pirated material online is against the law, and it's something that Japan do take seriously.

I'm not a hypocrite, as I did a lot of this in the past, even as far as getting the speculative invoices from solicitors asking me to pay stupid sums for the crap they accused me of downloading, but then again a slap on my wrist in my home country I deemed to be worth the risk. In Japan, it's not just a slap on the wrist, it's the risk of deportation, it's not something I particularly want to risk when there's so many better things to do with my time anyway.

Getting caught with an escort is not illegal, getting caught with a pirated copy of the latest blockbuster is.

 

[Jack Hammer]

When i was younger i recall torenting pirates of the caribbean 2. Ended up getting a call from jcom telling me to stop downloading (you can imagine my parents werent pleased).
So you may possibly get a warning, but its probably not worth risking it, just incase they decide to take it further.

 

[Merritt]

The whole region-locked content thing kills me. In (my opinion) today's world, damn near everything is a global market, whether you want it to be or not. I can shop on amazon in different countries, and while it may cost me a few extra bucks in shipping, I can get whatever I want to buy. Streaming should be no different. As long as I'm paying the monthly fee, what should it matter where I live? I've been a member of Crunchyroll (anime streaming) for years, but it's only available in the US, so I have to use a VPN to watch anything (until they figure out the VPN and block it). Should I really have to do that?

There are a looooooooot of people who download copyrighted content who would happily spend their money. The problem is that the content owners have decided they don't want to supply a particular market. I want to enjoy a product. If it's available for me to purchase, I'll buy it. If it's not, I'll get it elsewhere. It's in the company's interest to make it more available.


Anyway, as for downloading, I've only downloaded one thing since coming to Japan, I don't want to risk it. The one time I did download, I connected to my brother's house back in the states using a VPN first, that way if they tried to track it, they'd think im in the US. I also have a paid VPN- Battleping- which I use for some games I play with friends back home (600ms ping without it, 150ms with it- huuuuuge difference), and it comes with a browser vpn, so I can at least get a lot of the streaming sites

 

[TAG Manager]

A note from management:

At the risk of getting some silly claim about torrenting discussion, please be sure to keep this thread clean (as it is now) and avoid discussion of illegal (copyrighted) torrents and links. For some reason the bots looking for illegal torrents still trip up on threads like these where copyright material and torrent is mentioned in the same thread.

Officially, we cannot support torrenting copyrighted works and avoiding those region locks in place for certain content. Certainly, I understand the issues we all have with being able to watch the content we would like to... but just keep the discussion vanilla.

Thanks!

 

[calippo]

For me, I don't see why you would want to take the risk, if I recall correctly you are not even in the country yet, but are already looking at ways of breaking the law.

Oh my.... let me reiterate. I have a 6 years old daughter who will loose Italian if she don't watch Italian language children shows. I am WILLING TO PAY but sadly there are no services available.
SADLY I will have to stay far from my daughter 6 days a week, and I don't trust my Japanese wife to keep up with language. I already checked about cable TV and there is no such a service, and who have children may understand that 1 or 10 DVDs wont do; Children gets bored and needs always fresh contents. I do speak Japanese quite well, and fortunately for me I don't watch TV or movies even in Italy so why should I keep watching Italian TV in Japan you only know. I am just trying, as specified in the opening post, to find some children shows for a 6 years old child.
Oh, what a terrible person I am for looking at ways of breaking the law... c'mon.

 

[NormalGuy]

Wow, it's ok then, I forgot you had a 6 year old daughter, and of cause I forgot the clause that says because you have a kid then it's OK to download things illegaly.

If you only want advice you want to hear, then perhaps you should talk to a mirror.

 

[calippo]

Yeah I should do that while thinking that the country is safe as long as you are patrolling the streets.
To everyone else, thank you for the replies, I will try keeping my netflix account active through the VPN thing.

 

[e-smile]

nothing like that, just serialized european or american children shows in italian, for my 6 y o ....
I have a paid subscription to Netflix, but when I am in Japan, oddly it shows only japanese dramas

edit : you've already been advised about that.

 

[Smart]

Youtube must have some Italian kids content, no? Set up a playlist on a tablet or get apple tv or amazon tv thing.

 

[vondoom]

no offense, but why should your daughter lose the ability to speak italian, just because you dont have any italian tv channel? i never watched tv as a child, but i speak my mother tongue quite well... the secret: books, bloody books...

another substitute for the screen is talking...

and arent there any dvds in italian somewhere? if you cant find them in japan, get them at amazon, probably cheaper than netflix...