said by Camelot One:
Actually, you are wrong. Anything shared on the internet is considered public domain as far as downloading is concerned, it is just the act of making it available to others that is a copyright violation.
Now that is assuming it was a legal work to begin with. I think screeners fall into a different area than say MP3s ripped from a retail CD.
This is utterly false. It is not public domain just because it is on the internet. It is public domain after the copyright expires....of course Disney is keeping any copyright from expiring in this country to protect good old mickey...
If you download content without the consent of the copyright holder you are breaking the law as it currently stands...and it is conceivable that they could track you down (by catching you in the act). That is far more work than just finding uploaders...RIAA will pick the low hanging fruit first.
A major part of the problem is that what is meant by fair use is not established for the internet yet, so the RIAA wants to severely limit that while consumers+ want to expand it.
