Is it illegal to watch movies online?

[Deleted User]

Does it really make any difference whether you save a downloaded film to a hard drive in your computer or whether you viewed it as a stream? The servers providing the content will still have logs that can identify you and your data transfer.

Soubrette

Marty_J wrote: »

It's certainly possible to retrieve (and play) YouTube videos from your browser's cache.

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/download-youtube-videos.html

Thanks Marty - a font of knowledge as usual

So am I right in thinking that you can't just open the file in the temporary cache? That you have to actively save it somewhere else then play it?

Sou

Soubrette

anewhope wrote: »

Does it really make any difference whether you save a downloaded film to a hard drive in your computer or whether you viewed it as a stream? The servers providing the content will still have logs that can identify you and your data transfer.

So what if watching a stream is not illegal

If you have some links that show it is illegal then I would love to see them.

Sou

Soubrette

Marty_J wrote: »

It's certainly possible to retrieve (and play) YouTube videos from your browser's cache.

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/download-youtube-videos.html

It's even easier on a Mac.

Oh the shame

I couldn't make it work :mad:

I followed the instructions - had to go to temporary internet files via settings rather than the other way round, played my youtube video and then closed and reopened my temporary internet files - all I have is two opensearch? files of 1kb each - nothing that resembles a three minute song.

Sou

Marty_J

Soubrette wrote: »

So am I right in thinking that you can't just open the file in the temporary cache? That you have to actively save it somewhere else then play it?

I don't know if it will play directly from the temp folder; it might be necessary to move it in order to give it the appropriate file extension.

I've just streamed a whole movie to see what happens, and the entire thing is downloaded to my HDD. So in this instance, I did have a complete infringing copy on my computer.

If this is the case for other streaming sites, the issue would be whether it being a temporary copy makes any difference.

Soubrette

Marty_J wrote: »

I don't know if it will play directly from the temp folder; it might be necessary to move it in order to give it the appropriate file extension.

I've just streamed a whole movie to see what happens, and the entire thing is downloaded to my HDD. So in this instance, I did have a complete infringing copy on my computer.

If this is the case for other streaming sites, the issue would be whether it being a temporary copy makes any difference.

You've just streamed a whole movie in about 5 mins:eek: How did you do that????

I would remind everyone that there is no evidence that watching a stream is illegal. Even if we on this forum come to a consensus that actually yes, streaming does involve an infringing copy (I like that phrase) being on the computer - that really is just our opinion and we are not the lawmakers.

What I am looking for is evidence that it is or is not definitivel illegal.

However, the copy issue really really interests me

So to go back to your post Marty - you have the whole film in your HDD - can you open it now as it is - or do you have to take some special measures such as moving it or renaming it to make a copy.

If the latter then why? How could something be accessable as a viewable stream then inaccessible in a temporary file then you move it and rename it and voila it's accessible? (That's nothing to do with the OP I'm afraid, it just sounds interestingly quantum )

Sou

[Deleted User]

Soubrette wrote: »

So what if watching a stream is not illegal

If you have some links that show it is illegal then I would love to see them.

Sou

Why don't you put your points to FACT and see what they response they give?

Soubrette

anewhope wrote: »

Why don't you put your points to FACT and see what they response they give?

What is a good point - I'll send an email now - thanks for the idea anewhope

...

Done - I have asked for their comments on two different scenarios - one you are listening to a stream of music and you have no reason to suspect that it actually an illegal stream. Second you are watching a film that has not yet been released in the UK and so it is almost certainly illegal.

Sou

Marty_J

Soubrette wrote: »

You've just streamed a whole movie in about 5 mins:eek: How did you do that????

It loads it as you're watching it. It was a very poor camcorder copy of District 9 (which I've seen in the cinema, so I don't feel too guilty), so it was only about 150 MB or so.

So to go back to your post Marty - you have the whole film in your HDD - can you open it now as it is - or do you have to take some special measures such as moving it or renaming it to make a copy.

If I double click the movie in Safari's Activity window (which shows all the stuff your browser has loaded), it copies it into my Downloads folder, where it is perfectly playable by VLC:



(click for the full-size version)

As you can see, I opened the flash video in VLC. The arrow indicates the video file that I double-clicked. I can also just copy that file from the Activity window, and paste it directly into the "Open File" dialog in VLC.

If the latter then why? How could something be accessable as a viewable stream then inaccessible in a temporary file then you move it and rename it and voila it's accessible? (That's nothing to do with the OP I'm afraid, it just sounds interestingly quantum )

It's just how the operating system works. It tries its best to hide all the complicated stuff that goes on behind the scenes from the user. It's possible allowing the user to directly alter the contents of the cache could cause a crash.

Soubrette

Marty_J wrote: »

It's just how the operating system works. It tries its best to hide all the complicated stuff that goes on behind the scenes from the user. It's possible allowing the user to directly alter the contents of the cache could cause a crash.

Thanks for that - so are we saying that what is in the cache is copyable but not a copy in itself?



Sou