(3:06:11 PM) Dave: I guess the answer is to use a dummy address for all vaguely illegal registrations.
(3:07:04 PM) ian: now the question is if i encrypt my music and other illegally acquired files, can they still charge me with illegal downloading from my oink.cd user records alone
(3:11:33 PM) Dave: Downloading isn't illegal.
(3:11:50 PM) Dave: Possession of property which you don't have legal rights to is theft.
(3:12:10 PM) ian: ok
(3:12:32 PM) Dave: The question (which is still open) is whether downloading constitutes a strong enough presumption that you are going to do something illegal with the music.
(3:12:34 PM) Dave: Amusingly
(3:12:50 PM) Dave: On oink, because it's so hard to upload, most people are probably in the clear.
(3:13:00 PM) Dave: because the real incriminating behavior is uploading.
(3:13:18 PM) Dave: Trafficking in stolen goods is a strong presumption for the illegality of those goods.
(3:13:36 PM) Dave: So you might download a CD because your physical copy got broken.
(3:13:51 PM) Dave: And it's been held that it's legal to maintain a backup of your music for personal purposes.
(3:14:08 PM) Dave: But uploading that CD is probably illegal, because you can't know it's going to someone who has the rights to it.
(3:14:37 PM) Dave: And you have a legal obligation not to transmit that information to someone who does not have the rights to use it.