Are crack sites illegal?

[11001001]

Originally posted here by ac1dsp3ctrum
Crack sites themselves arent illegal but the cracks on them are... So in other words you can visit and download crscks all you want as long as you dont use them

Ac1d is right. By nature, the site itself (as long as it is hosted in the US) iis just an excercise of your right to free speech and press. If you use the programs/cracks/hacks contained within, you can be found both criminally and civilly reponsible for various copyright infringements. In addition to which, if you host the site and someone else gets in trouble with the law for using cracks that you provided, you may be held responsible as an accomplice.

[dpwes]

Ok, thanks guys. So the difference between Crack sites and Warez sites is that the former do not offer copyrighted material. Even though the cracks can be used to infringe on copyright, they are legal because their copyright is not being violated, right?

Have any companies challenged this in court? And has it led to any Crack sites being shut down?

Btw, what do you guys think of Astalavista.com? That's probably the biggest crack search engine on the net. Also, they offer some very interesting literature, like "hijacking Hotmail accounts". But I guess that's all legal cause you can say they put it up there for educational purposes.

[RaDIaToR52]

Well what about sites that hold things such as Starcraft hacks or diablo hacks? If like you say it is legle just to host them, and not download/use them, how is it Blizzard always manages to close down the best of those sites?

[jehnx]

RaDIaToR52: More than likely they close them down by putting pressure on their ISP or web hosters. The hosters and ISP's don't wanna go through legal battles and all that mess, usually, so they just kick the people off their servers.

[shkuey]

As long as you legally own a software package it is perfectly legal to create and use a crack for it. Crack sites are not illegal because they have a disclaimer telling you the legal way to use what they have available. If you use it to pirate software, then you did something illegal, not them. The reason starcraft and diablo sites get shut down is they distribute fake cd-keys and the like, which is not just a crack, it's a violation of copyright law.

[bpx]

no.

if i make a patch that doesnt make it illegale. If the user decides to download it and use it then its THEIR choice not mine. Read the disclaimers in the .nfo/.diz files.

[thesecretfire]

Originally posted here by Noia
btw: did any one notice that the symbol for The Proxomitron is th same as the symbol for GOD described in the bible?
- Noia [/B]

It's also the symbol for the Illuminati, a (fictional?) secret and powerful group.

[laughingbuddha]

What is Proxomitron??

[cwk9]

The question is were are crack sites legal. If the country it’s hosted in has no copyright laws then it’s perfectly legal.

[thesecretfire]

Originally posted here by laughingbuddha
What is Proxomitron??

It's called "The Proxomitron" and it's a great little program. It functions as a proxy that is accessible only to your comp, and blocks ads and other annoying things. Add to this the refuse popups option in opera, and you're in browsing heaven.