Can’t be bothered to wait for your torrents to finish downloading? You might be familiar with the website called Popcorn Time which has been billed as the Netflix for pirates. Basically it allows users to stream their torrents so you can watch your content without having to wait for it to fully download.
While it is illegal, we have to admit that it is pretty clever. Unfortunately it seems that being associated with Popcorn Time can land you into some pretty hot water. Over in Denmark, it seems that two men have been arrested for running a pair of websites which are basically guides on how to use Popcorn Time.
This is a troubling precedent as neither website actually hosts illegal content, nor are they in any way involved in the actual development of Popcorn Time, but rather the sites just provided guides, FAQs, and tips on how to use the service. In fact there was no direct link to download Popcorn Time, with both sites choosing to link to other sites that hosted the files instead.
Like we said it is a troubling precedent. According to Inspector Michael Hellensberg from the Danish police Fraud Squad, “The case is important because, firstly, it shows that [site operators] can be revealed by the police. This has consequences and it also conveys the message that this behavior is illegal. Thus there is hopefully a deterrent effect against feeling confident that you can sit wherever you want and try to implement such things.”
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