If you are US citizen, even if you host in another country, if what you are doing is illegal, you can still be charged. This happened with a lot of adult folks, who thought hosting in Europe or Canada would make them not be able to be charged with anything... Still happened...
Illegal, Legal, Or Just Shady?
- Thread starter Aequitas
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i'm doing it, no problems with it, besides adsense banning me
all episodes are on stage6.divx.com and veoh already and thousands of sites use it, so no biggy i guess
all episodes are on stage6.divx.com and veoh already and thousands of sites use it, so no biggy i guess
Basically it doesn't matter if it's legal or not they can and probably will sue you if you piss them off. You can sue anyone for anything and if they have even a tiny bit of a case they can drag it out for a long time. I guarantee they have way more money and time than you and will win the war of atrition whether or not it's legal in the first place.
I'd suggest stick to white hat stuff that won't get you in trouble, the black hat stuff is risky and is only ever profitable in the short term anyway.
I'd suggest stick to white hat stuff that won't get you in trouble, the black hat stuff is risky and is only ever profitable in the short term anyway.
Hmm... wonder if there is some way I could help out here. I mean, I'm in Norway and I own a business here. It should be doable for me to run US marketers like Aequitas and their shady sites through servers here, etc. Sort of laundering the business through here even if you're a US citizen doing pr0n, w4r3z or whatever. Aequitas - pm me if you'd be interested in this.
Depends on where you live, in Canada it's perfectly legal to download pretty much anything. ('cept things like kiddie porn, obviously.) In the US it's still not clear. There really is no law that specifically addresses actual downloading of copyrighted material.
Some opinions talk about the act of making the copy, others say that you need to actually consume the product for entertainment value before any law is actually broken. There really is no case law specifically addressing downloading only. Typically the person that is definitely breaking the law is the one who is distributing the content illegally.
Well thanks for the advice everyone there are a lot of great opinions on this and I am doing this on a smaller scale but nothing large yet, you see I'm waiting to get the final word directly from the media networks so I can continue on doing what I'm doing on a larger scale.
However as I've stated my true goal with this is to cut a deal with the media networks, giving them royalties for the content on my sites in return I want to try and get that content on my site before anyone else does, simply put most people have to wait until the show already aired on TV before putting it on there sites, usually like a 24 hour wait time, I however want to display the shows on my sites at the exact time they play on TV simply beating out the competition.
I'll have to return to this thread if I ever make any progress talking to the 3 networks that I've been trying to cut a deal with, you see I only need one bigger network to cut a deal with and that alone will be worth a ton.
Basically I'm just sitting here waiting to scale one of many business models. Oh and so everyone knows I'm not a US citizen I live in Canada but my hosting and the majority of my business is all in the USA.
However as I've stated my true goal with this is to cut a deal with the media networks, giving them royalties for the content on my sites in return I want to try and get that content on my site before anyone else does, simply put most people have to wait until the show already aired on TV before putting it on there sites, usually like a 24 hour wait time, I however want to display the shows on my sites at the exact time they play on TV simply beating out the competition.
I'll have to return to this thread if I ever make any progress talking to the 3 networks that I've been trying to cut a deal with, you see I only need one bigger network to cut a deal with and that alone will be worth a ton.
Basically I'm just sitting here waiting to scale one of many business models. Oh and so everyone knows I'm not a US citizen I live in Canada but my hosting and the majority of my business is all in the USA.
So yours will be the site everyone rips the vids from then?
Should have remembered you are in Canada, sorry. Is this related to the Heroes site you had for sale a while back?
haha yeah pretty much hey if I can bust out a legal deal I'd be the one guy to come to for rips but I don't think the companies would like that too much, might harm the legal business deal I want.
And yes this going to be for the Heroes site I still own as well as for many many many many many, I can't even say how many there is so many related sites like it.
That is my industry TV and online video and I'm not affraid of telling anyone about it cause its a bitch to get things set up correctly, well I should say its more of a bitch getting things in this particular industry set up to the point that you earn enough profits to keep going, but I guess that could be like all the rest as well, competition is compeition, only this particular industry is much more time-sensitive competition.
The early bird gets the worm anology fits right in here.
Didn't the Napster litigation indicate that merely linking to pirated material is illegal? The legal basis is very BROAD--ie., facilitating copyright infringement.
However, there are some exemptions: if you're merely facilitating discussions or reviews. For this to fly, the "samples" of the copyrighted work must be just that --very short samples or short clips. Just enough to generate discussion, reviews, or to convey the news.
This is not legal advice. Just an opinion
Please consult with a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction
However, there are some exemptions: if you're merely facilitating discussions or reviews. For this to fly, the "samples" of the copyrighted work must be just that --very short samples or short clips. Just enough to generate discussion, reviews, or to convey the news.
This is not legal advice. Just an opinion
Please consult with a qualified attorney in your jurisdiction 
Oh and some new developments I just found out that a larger site PeekVid to be exact are doing the same thing that everyone else is doing, I figured at first that this particular site being as big and as popular as it is would have some sort of legal relationships with the TV networks but it turns out they are in the grey area like everyone else.
They have zero permission as far as I can tell to do what they do and yet they are doing it, this amazes me but who knows maybe they are in a country with no laws and can be better protected.
Fuck am I the only one in history to be trying a legal solution for online copyrighted material, the more I look at bigger sites, the more I look at smaller sites, the more I look everywhere and I haven't really found anyone who is technically legal and safe by displaying the works.
Heck I can't even find past references from any TV Networks or the MPAA who give any insight into what they feel is right or wrong.
They have zero permission as far as I can tell to do what they do and yet they are doing it, this amazes me but who knows maybe they are in a country with no laws and can be better protected.
Fuck am I the only one in history to be trying a legal solution for online copyrighted material, the more I look at bigger sites, the more I look at smaller sites, the more I look everywhere and I haven't really found anyone who is technically legal and safe by displaying the works.
Heck I can't even find past references from any TV Networks or the MPAA who give any insight into what they feel is right or wrong.
I think you can get out of some trouble if you don't host ads right next to the content that you're (ahem) pirating (ahem).
The only way you're in the clear for displaying anything created by someone else is to have a piece of paper from their legal department stating that you're authorized to reproduce their work on your website. Good luck with that!
The only way you're in the clear for displaying anything created by someone else is to have a piece of paper from their legal department stating that you're authorized to reproduce their work on your website. Good luck with that!
You make it sound impossible to make that happen, its not impossible just improbably, you really just have to provide royalties in return for that contract, now how much royalties is yet to be seen.
Hi Aequitas,
No matter what you see available out there, don't give up on trying to find the legal solution. Take the easy non-legal way and you could wind up doing a ton of work to get setup all for nothing.
About 3 years ago here in Canada (Toronto I think), there was a guy who setup something very similar to you - free live TV over the internet. The TV image was framed with banners. Once word got out, there were some stories about him on the news and about a week later, he was shut down. All his work down the toilet.
If you get popular, there will be people lining up to fuck you over if you don't have the right permissions. The copyright holders, the networks and even your cable provider. On the latter, if you manage to get the feed from somewhere besides the cable provider, I wouldn't be surprised if the CRTC pays you a visit.
So yeah, if you have big plans for this and aren't just looking to make a quick buck, then be diligent and get all the permissions you need.
No matter what you see available out there, don't give up on trying to find the legal solution. Take the easy non-legal way and you could wind up doing a ton of work to get setup all for nothing.
About 3 years ago here in Canada (Toronto I think), there was a guy who setup something very similar to you - free live TV over the internet. The TV image was framed with banners. Once word got out, there were some stories about him on the news and about a week later, he was shut down. All his work down the toilet.
If you get popular, there will be people lining up to fuck you over if you don't have the right permissions. The copyright holders, the networks and even your cable provider. On the latter, if you manage to get the feed from somewhere besides the cable provider, I wouldn't be surprised if the CRTC pays you a visit.
So yeah, if you have big plans for this and aren't just looking to make a quick buck, then be diligent and get all the permissions you need.
Well, thinking about how much TV companies here pay to get US shows six months after they first broadcast, to get to air them at the same time as the US networks you are going to need very very deep pockets!
It seems the BBC is paying about $1m per episode for Heroes - for the right to broadcast it to a small portion of the world, months after it first airs and I don't think they have rights to broadcast anything other than previews online.
If you wanted to broadcast to a global audience at the same time as NBC... fuck.
But even for 2, 3.. 5 million per episode you'd be directly competing with them and it would also affect the resale value of the shows to other networks worldwide... I really doubt they'd go for it.How would you finance it anyway? I can't see adsense etc really making that sort of cash! Attract the big guns and run commercials?
Well, thinking about how much TV companies here pay to get US shows six months after they first broadcast, to get to air them at the same time as the US networks you are going to need very very deep pockets!
It seems the BBC is paying about $1m per episode for Heroes - for the right to broadcast it to a small portion of the world, months after it first airs and I don't think they have rights to broadcast anything other than previews online.
If you wanted to broadcast to a global audience at the same time as NBC... fuck.
How would you finance it anyway? I can't see adsense etc really making that sort of cash! Attract the big guns and run commercials?
hahaha yeah thats a bit out of my reach no doubt, I don't got a few million sitting around for this particular stuff and I agree that having the ability to air the shows at the same time as NBC, ect... was a foolish thing to say.
More or less my one and only goal is to get a written contract with at least one TV network stating that I can display the full version of a particular television show online. Thats it and if that never happens well fuck them I'll go warez on there ass.
That sounds right because the "news" or "commentary" exception to the US copyright law considers whether there is a "commercial purpose" to the otherwise infringing behavior.
Look, the fact of the matter is that it's obviously not impossible, just really really improbable that the "buzz" or attention that your website can give a show will be worth anything to NBC.
I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, just a fucking realist. Realistically, a show like Heroes is very popular, and in turn garners a high return to NBC because advertisers are willing to pay a premium to advertise on it. What you're proposing is to publish their material (which probably costs them $1M an episode to create to gross $1.2M an episode in advertising revs), and then pay a royalty to them to do it in real-time.
Think about it this way. How much would you have to pay Steven Spielberg to offer Transformers the movie online at the same time that it's in theaters.
I'd suggest you try to contact NBC legal and find out what you'd need to do to publish the show live on the air, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You're better off providing really sweet coverage of the episodes immediately after they've aired (as I've done for some Lost TV show coverage on a couple blogs). Gain enough traction, and then you carry some clout with the show's creators; and they'll scoop you in when something exciting is on the horizon which will make your website throb like a wang on a double dose of viagra.
Get to work fucker.
I'm not trying to be a buzzkill, just a fucking realist. Realistically, a show like Heroes is very popular, and in turn garners a high return to NBC because advertisers are willing to pay a premium to advertise on it. What you're proposing is to publish their material (which probably costs them $1M an episode to create to gross $1.2M an episode in advertising revs), and then pay a royalty to them to do it in real-time.
Think about it this way. How much would you have to pay Steven Spielberg to offer Transformers the movie online at the same time that it's in theaters.
I'd suggest you try to contact NBC legal and find out what you'd need to do to publish the show live on the air, but I wouldn't hold my breath. You're better off providing really sweet coverage of the episodes immediately after they've aired (as I've done for some Lost TV show coverage on a couple blogs). Gain enough traction, and then you carry some clout with the show's creators; and they'll scoop you in when something exciting is on the horizon which will make your website throb like a wang on a double dose of viagra.
Get to work fucker.
i love how you imply you have a few million sitting around, just not for this particular stuff. :Yahoo_29:
good luck on your project. and oh yeah, HEROES BLOWS! EVERY TV SHOW BLOWS EXCEPT FOR SIMPSONS AND SEINFELD!
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