Hi all, A friend of mine has developed a while back a download program, sort of Bittorent/Emule. The software is an open source one, which allows you to download movies, mp3, softwares.... like the other previously mentioned programs. It has been in use for over 3 years now all over the world (over 50k users). Together with my friend, we've decided to build a website for it and all it's plugins, addons, help guides... My question is this ; knowing that most files downloaded through the software are probably "illegal" being ripped music/videos, cracked software.... does the software, site or any of it's admins risk anything from a legal point of view? any tips would be appreciated thx
Any online service is at risk of getting people abusing, but I believe download/upload sites are more vulnerable than any other.
the thing is that the website will be offering only the software. no movies, software... will be on it it's a p2p program
In that case it depends on your country's regulations reviewed against your site's policies, making sure to get your users reading your TOS before accesing the P2P software.
Just because a download program can be used illegally, doesn't make the program itself illegal. For example software like uTorrent is totally legal because the BitTorrent protocol has legitimate uses. You just need to make sure that in the TOS you protect yourself from any liability as a result of the user's actions.