I’m new around here, so I’d appreciate some context if anyone knows…

What are the legal ramifications of discussing piracy online?
What are the lines in the sand one should not cross? What do you do to make sure you stay safe out there?

I know linking to specific pirated content is against the communities rules so that seems like an obvious no no.

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    24·
    20 hours ago

    I’d say the rules of such a community usually factor that in. Don’t directly link to pirated content etc. So the first thing is to read the rules.

    It’s also always a good idea to watch other people. See what they do and how they talk before you ask where to find the latest pirated Nintendo collection, a mere minutes after creating an account.

    General media literacy applies. Choose a pseudonym and not your real name. Don’t attach your main email address and phone number to your piracy accounts. And maybe generally don’t mix all your online life together.

    And some mild trick is to phrase things so you don’t outright admit to committing illegal activities. Say you think a friend of yours did this, or what would happen if someone were to do that… But this doesn’t really change anything. People can tell. And if law enforcement takes interest in you, they don’t really care how you phrased things after they found evidence.

    But talking about piracy isn’t illegal. And avoiding names and links sometimes is more about protecting the server you’re on, since the place could get closed if it’s the where the actual pirating happens. So in everyones interest, I think we talk about piracy here, but don’t do it here…

    And there is a Megathread, a FAQ etc in the sidebar. With all sorts of good information. And lots of links. So if you read that, you can skip asking some questions in the first place.

      • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
        4·
        19 hours ago

        Yeah, I thought about including a NordVPN advertisement in my comment… Do people do that? I mean sure it’s an additional privacy technique. But I regularly just talk about whatever legal things I like and I don’t take this too seriously. It’s my regular internet connection. I make a clean cut after that, though. If I now were to download something, I’d think about not doing it in plain sight. And I’d use a different username to sign up somewhere if needed.

        Though, I forgot to talk about different jurisductions. And for example where I live, I can’t give someone instructions on how to commit a crime. Or help doing illegal things. So that’s another thing I avoid.

        And I’m kind of talking about: talking about piracy. Not doing it. If you share links in an underground forum, or upload some movies, you’d need way more security measures in place.