Do people actually get in trouble with the law for watching movies online?

[panteno]

I REALLY want to watch a movie... online. The site is VideoWeed - I've watched several things from there, before. But I'm just curious... Will I actually get arrested, or get a fine for doing so? I don't want to get in any sort of trouble.

I know it's illegal... but SO many people do it. Do they really look for people, and get them in trouble? I don't think I've ever heard of someone getting arrested for it, but I know it's not good >.<

[jorian23]

Do you think it would be OK to murder someone because of all the murderers in Chicago in the last year? They did it ,so even tho it's illegal-I'll do it too .

You already know it is illegal to watch copyrighted movies for FREE. So it's up to you. To steal or not to steal.

There have been a few arrests made,but not many. I read an article last month that said something like 72% of movies are illegally downloaded or watched via pirate sites online. The criminals are age 8-22 mostly. I keep reading that authorities will start to crack down on the thieves. It would be too hard to catch and fine them all. So the authorities usually just pick a few targets and arrest them- to make a statement. So your probably not in much danger of being arrested-unless they decide to target you. Chances of that are slim to none. The government is broke. The studios are broke. They really are in no position to police piracy.

The choice is yours respect the law or break it (and suffer possible consequences)

[avikar76]

I'd bet it's simply like when the government went after people that were using music sharing sites so much. It's all about volume. A movie here and there...maybe even a hundred movies...shouldn't be enough to cause you any trouble. When you get into the multiple hundreds then I'm sure you would catch someone's attention because they would think you're making copies of the movies and distributing them (piracy).

[jocheved]

The key is if the copyright holder has authorized the movie to be shown for free online. If they have not, it is a violation of the copyright laws and it should be therefore, illegal.

Copyright holders hold the right to determine how something is distributed.


Is it forbidden to see something that was given without any request of payment without paying? No, watching FREE, which implies FREE movies in any means is not illegal.


Illegal would be watching something that has been illegally obtained and present without consent of the owner (theft).

For example in Czech republic is all online viewing legal (even that of the copyrighted movies) under one condition and that is you may NOT ask for any payment for it, nor present it in public, when you have not been given the permission of the owner. This is done because everyone is presumed guilty of copyright violation by paying extra fees on CD, DVD, hard-disk drives, removable memory media (memory cards), USB FLASH disk to the copyright association.



So, it really depends on the website you use to watch the movies on, for example veoh.com has some full movies for online viewing, but if you try to watch from a country that is not on the "allowed list" you will get a message that the movie is unavailable for your location. The same happens on some movies and music video clips on YouTube.................................…



More here.... http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_watching_free_movies_online_illegal

[teyo]

It takes an enormous amount of money to produce and market a given film in this day and age, and that is especially true for big-budget summer blockbusters. And the only way that the studios can stay in business and continue making films for you to see and enjoy is if people actually PAY TO SEE THEM.

It is illegal to pirate movies and buy or watch pirated movies for a reason: doing so is STEALING. And stealing is morally reprehensible no matter what you steal or whom you steal from. The decision of whether to steal or not shouldn't be a simple calculation of whether one may get caught (which is how a common psychopath operates), but a question of whether you consider yourself a good person or not. A good, decent, law abiding person does NOT steal by definition.

So, do you consider yourself a decent, honest person who pulls their own weight and pays their own way? Or are you just another worthless, deadbeat criminal not fit to live in decent society?

As always, the choice to be a good person or a common scumbag is yours, but it should be noted that every choice has its own consequences. We reap what we sow.


"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."

[wardell]

freemoviestv dot net. Among the best sites I've ever visited is consistent with anticipation and that i can watch free movies online. Many a listing from the latest and finest-selling film of the season