What are the types and differences of warnings in the area of file sharing? An insight into the different types of torrent platforms.

Up to now there has been much debate and analysis about illegal public access according to §19 a of the German Copyright Act. In this article, we would like to write less about the unauthorized reproduction or making available to the public of copyrighted works, but rather refer to the explicit danger when using appropriate software, which makes a corresponding violation of the law possible in the first place.

As already described in detail in some previous articles, there is no doubt that a vast number of legally protected works are distributed illegally and free of charge on the Internet without the permission and consent of the owners.

The sales of the original image or sound carriers are obviously thwarted by the free distribution of the illegal copies. This results in enormous losses for the legal owners who have incurred considerable financial costs and risks.

Therefore, we would like to illustrate in this article how it is possible to offer the contents of protected works on the Internet without permission and thus to transfer them to third parties. As already described in the last article, this requires so-called and popular file- sharing (P2P client) programs.

What are file sharing programs?

File sharing programs are mainly used to exchange files between unknown users. Some popular and well-known programs for this are πTorrent, Vuze, BitCommet, MLDonkey, Shareza and eMule to name just a handful. Basically, there are two different types of file sharing protocols. These are the BitTorrent file sharing protocol and the eDonkey2000 file sharing protocol. Depending on the program used, there are subtle differences with regard to the technical function of the applications.

What does P2P mean and what is P2P file sharing?

P2P stands for Peer-to-Peer network. Peer comes from the English language. Peer-to-peer networks (P2P) are computer networks in which the computers in the computer network work together as equals. This means that data is not distributed on one computer but on many computers, mostly on the computers of the users. The peer-to-peer concept is therefore a decentralised concept that manages without a central server, just like the Internet.

The term “peer-to-peer” comes from the term “peer”, which means “peer”, “like-minded person” or “colleague”. Short forms such as peer-2-peer or P2P are also widespread. The central and decisive element of a peer-to-peer network is therefore the equality of the parties/computers/computers involved.

In summary: P2P networks in computer science are defined as communication between computers with equal rights. Such a network consists of at least two computers, but can also be formed by a multitude (infinite) of computers connected to each other via a program on the Internet.

All computers can retrieve the data provided or make their own files available or share them via the peer-to-peer connection. Through the P2P Network, each computer or user can also offer functions, resources and services to others in the network.

Looking back on the history and development, there are many interesting details and information on Wikipedia. One of the first file-sharing network providers was the legendary Napster, which had to close down after a very short time due to considerable legal concerns and accusations.

Since then, the constant change and progress on the Internet has resulted in countless innovative offers of software and digital solutions suitable for the exchange of data and files.

Although in the beginning, and of course still today, some applications required a corresponding software in the form of a file-sharing program, there are now far more imaginative digital solutions that appear to be no longer recognizable as file-sharing networks.

For the permissive, bona fide users of the Internet, it is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to choose between the almost endless providers on the Internet. For some time now, there have been supposed streaming services that technically act in the background as file sharing or peer-to-peer networks. To these services belong especially online streaming providers like PopcornTime, Time4Popcorn, Cuevana, Zona and Isoplex.

The really astonishing or in other words brazen thing about it is that some of them demand monthly fees from their users. This way the customer gets the impression that he has even paid for the ‘streamed’ works legally.

There are just enough dubious providers on the internet who try to earn money this way. There is also an essential difference between streaming and file sharing platforms.

Online providers that you should be wary of

Online providers that you should be on your guard against: Vavoo warning, Burning Series warning, Porno warning, Archive.org warning, DDl Warez warning, Downloader warning, Uploaded.net warning. The legal consequences are disproportionate.

In some respects the internet invites you to do something illegal. The danger of not being caught downloading or streaming blockbusters or series free of charge diminishes especially if one feels an increased feeling of privacy or anonymity in one’s own bedroom deep in the night due to one’s own perception.

However, it has long been proven in many other everyday areas that there is no privacy on the Internet. The independence of time and space makes the Internet a confusing place without boundaries and endless depths, whereby every step and click is mysteriously ‘tracked’ or carefully recorded on an unknown data medium.

Some of these providers, such as Vavoo, operate from legally questionable domiciles such as the Bahamas or Switzerland. Of course these countries are not to be understood as fundamentally questionable, but it will be extremely difficult for the authorities and the respective rights holders to take action against these companies themselves. Technically it is certainly possible in many ways, but the effort requires a high degree of investigative work and the involvement of the authorities at the domicile of the respective providers.

Realistically speaking, the chance of prosecuting unsuspecting users for covert violations of the law is far higher than taking action against the controversial companies themselves.

In reality, however, the danger for those who have received a Vavoo warning should not be underestimated. Compared to the overall size of the platform, however, the chance of getting caught is quite small. If someone does get caught with a vavoo warning, it’s going to be relatively expensive. A monthly subscription for nine euros ninety is worth it compared to the one thousand euros for a vavoo.to warning.

Another possible legal action against the providers in question is the blocking of their Internet presence by the relevant Internet providers, such as Vodafone or Telekom. These service providers have also suffered from the bad reputation of the questionable providers. On the one hand they are mostly not legally obliged to check the contents of the services offered by third parties and on the other hand the process of data storage of the IP addresses allocation and their legal prosecution means an unnecessary additional expenditure to your actual business model.

However, the change in the age of the Internet requires an increased effort from all parties involved. Therefore, especially providers like burnig-series can avoid the measures intended to ban their offers by using apps or other technical solutions instead of offering their services on the internet.

This is the dynamic change of our time.

In the future, consumers can only protect themselves from an openload warning or even a porn warning by paying more attention to the dangers on the Internet. The excuse that one did not know anything about the topic ‘illegal downloads’ can not be enough for anyone who is aware of the existence and use of such dubious offers and providers.

Who believes one can download a current blockbuster about serious providers one day after the official start in the cinemas for free without having to bear any consequences for it, is hardly to be accepted that he did this unknowingly or in good conscience. If this person would have taken a blockbuster on DVD home twenty years ago without paying at the box office, this would be the same as shoplifting. That is the law.

Speaking of legislation: even if this is a bit digressive and not the core topic of the article, one could take a closer look at the legislation and ask oneself the question: Is the legislation in general justified or how did it come about?

Here is some food for thought on the subject of legislation: already more than two hundred years ago, Friedrich Schiller considered legislation to be “arbitrary”. What would he think today in view of the jungle of laws in which our society finds itself? Where are the regulations that are fair and comprehensible, not just for a few experts who drafted them and lawyers, but for all those who are subject to the laws?

Shortly after Schiller’s statements in 1872, the jurist Rudolph von Jehring described law as “the effort of mankind to tame itself” in his lecture “The Struggle for Law”. Is this taming, then and now, really meaningful, goal-oriented and is it being managed in the right way? Jehring doubted it even then: Law has never really tried to solve the conflicts of society, but only to alleviate them by laying down rules according to which they should be fought. How will we deal with our conflicts more efficiently in the future? How should laws be designed in the future?