Hey, I was searching for some information about a video theme on Google and I stumbled upon wphackz.com There are links to download illegal copies of themes from all major theme providers and the links goes to media sharing sites like rapidshare, filestube, mediashare etc.. Most of the themes that I wanted to test before making a final purchase are available here for download. I want to ask whether it is safe to test those themes on my live server? I want to only test the functionality of themes and when I’ll find the one that suits my needs, I will buy the original one. I have read in forum discussions that majority of these themes have malicious code that may corrupt all other wordpress installation on the server as well. So is it safe to test these themes on my live server where my main blog is installed?
I wont recommend using this themes on live sites . You cannot say anything about this themes. Better you try the themes locally on your localhost. When you are satisfied and happy with the theme function, buy the originals. Its not much ... Good luck!
I would say that no they are not safe. Bootleg themes and scripts are notorious for being loaded with malware, adware and other malicious things that can crash your website, infect your server, or even worse. You should NEVER trust P2P downloads or free downloads that aren't supposed to be free. Besides the fact that it's basically stealing, People aren't posting them out the goodness of their hearts. The are mostly trojan horses. Read this article and see how many randomly searched for "free" theme sites are infected with Base32 viruses. http://wpmu.org/why-you-should-never-search-for-free-wordpress-themes-in-google-or-anywhere-else/ If you think, "Oh yeah, but this one seems trustworthy", then you are a fool and deserve what you get. I've serviced a TON of websites and computers of people who were just trying to save a few bucks, or couldn't resist the urge to "beat the system" and get over. Free movie sites. Free scripts. Free music. Free porn. It's all the same. Eventually you will pick up something nasty, or a combination of things that have been building over time that just crashes everything. You would be taking a very serious risk. The chances of screwing up you site, server, infecting your visitors or even your computer are pretty high. More than 50%. If that risk is worth saving a few bucks and stealing from the creator, then you are probably full of bad decisions that will probably prohibit your success down the road. Sorry to be so blunt, but those are the cold hard facts.
no dont download such warez themes check here http://www.wordpress-templates.com/premium-wordpress-themes-rapidshare-torrent-nulled-warez/
Also, never trust any 3rd party site with "Wordpress" in the URL. It is against the TOS of Wordpress. They explicitly ask reputable service providers NOT to use their trademark in the URL of their businesses. Anyone who would disregard it, or was not smart enough to make themselves aware of the rules cannot be trusted to respect anything else.