Do the authorities in Ireland give a shit about piracy?

[u/WIZZZARDOFFREESTYLE]

Could I potentially, even if it's a slim chance, get in any trouble for torrenting stuff or watching football streams? Should I at least use a vpn?

[u/Ralinyth]

I always use VPN when torrenting or using dodgy sites. Better to be safe than sorry

[u/OpinionatedDeveloper]

[u/TrivialBanal]

It's a civil matter rather than a criminal one. It's up to the offended party to raise the case.

If you're making money off it though (selling dodgy boxes etc.) that is criminal and CAB will go after that.

ISPs aren't interested in policing it (except maybe SKY) because it's essentially spending their money to protect another companies profits. It just doesn't make business sense. Unless the government makes them do it, they're not going to bother.

[u/SubparSavant]

Got an email from eircom years ago about 1 particular show I downloaded. No repercussions. Haven't heard anything in all my years with Sky or Virgin.

I think it's only enforced if a copyright holder goes to the provider about a specific file. Because although I can't remember what it was, I remember I had downloaded more than one version of it because of quality and they only mentioned one of them.

[u/ElvisMcPelvis]

Been streaming for years never used a VPN,

[u/Garry-Love]

Lad Mullivad VPN cost €5 a month with no subscriptions or strings attached. Just pay for it if you're downloading stuff. If you're only streaming you don't need a VPN though

[u/SteveK27982]

They did take some action against certain people streaming recently but it came via the person who sold the dodgy box’s revolute payment info rather than via internet providers

[u/Responsible_Mark3371]

My friend. I just read an article about a guy with 77 previous convictions who got 6 years after being caught with half a human body in the car. I'm sure you'll be fine.

[u/AggressivePie8111]

Nord VPN - Works for YouTube-Tubi-Pluto browsing US sites. I couldn't get it to work for Disney+ not sure about Netfliz as I don't have that

[u/Cork_Feen]

No they don't because they all do it as well.

[u/Fr_RebulahConundrum → u/Cork_Feen]

I know a guy who worked in an electronics shop that repaired computers. He got a laptop in one day that belonged to a famous Hollywood actress who was filming something here. There were Game Of Thrones episodes saved in a folder on the desktop.

[u/HonestOrb → u/Fr_RebulahConundrum]

100 for didn't happen. Why would the actress be interested in fixing, with all that money

[u/Fr_RebulahConundrum → u/HonestOrb]

Because she’s away from home with her personal laptop full of personal things? Not everyone just replaces things rather than repairing, regardless of wealth. 😕

[u/Nuraya]

Another question, if you torrent something you already own, how does that work?

[u/phyneas → u/Nuraya]

Irish law doesn't have a statutory exemption for "space-shifting" or making another copy of a copyrighted work that you already own a copy of, so it would technically still be infringement, as would activities like ripping a BluRay or CD you own. In the case of making copies of your own physical media, of course no one would ever know about it, but the issue with torrenting a copy is that due to the way BitTorrent works, you will usually be uploading the infringing content as well as downloading it, so they could pursue you for distributing multiple copies of a work. They'd have to actually identify you, though, by forcing your ISP to provide your details, and it's practically unheard of for any media owners to attempt that here, as it just isn't cost-effective. They might send a letter to your ISP reporting your IP address's activity, and your ISP might send you a message telling you to knock it off, but even that is rare these days.

[u/fakemoosefacts → u/phyneas]

I always wondered about this, because the information online is so ubiquitously American. 

[u/Nuraya → u/phyneas]

Good to know. Dirty Dancing wasn’t available on any of the streaming services we pay for and our dvd wouldn’t work on the ps5. Such a pain in the ass when you can just download it

[u/OkCoconut3270]

Not really, it's a good idea to use a VPN but I've been torrenting for years, heavy usage, games, movies and music and have never heard a peep.

When it comes to torrenting they seem to be muc more concerned with seeders

[u/Dailoor → u/OkCoconut3270]

Everyone is a seeder when torrenting...

[u/OkCoconut3270 → u/Dailoor]

Yeah but there's a big difference between what you seed while downloading and then leaving it seed for a few more days.

They have gone after a lot more people who distribute than those who download.

[u/worktemp]

Used to use a VPN but the server I used stopped working for torrents and I couldn't find a fast one so I haven't been using one for years, no issues.

[u/Think-Sand7161]

I didn't know anyone still torrented without a VPN! never mind dodgy streaming.

Yeah deffo 👍

[u/Finsceal]

The only people who ever get caught are the ones grabbing the new Taylor Swift album off whatever public tracker is the norm these days, or buying a pre-installed dodgybox off some friend of a friend.

Private torrent sites and your own installations are such small fry nobody is going to come after you.

[u/DarrenMacNally]

Hot take: You shouldn’t pirate stuff. To me this post is no different than someone saying can you get away with just taking a few things out of Tesco each week. Sure it’s a big corporation who cares? The price of eggs is mad!