Can I setup a blog/site that have a description about copyrighed/free softwares/scripts and give links to rapidshare/others site for my visitors to download the fulled/cracked/nulled version of it, no file hosted on my site?
Is this violated the TOS ?
You can give links to full version, but I guess not for the cracked version.
However, your case is very tricky. I’ll suggest you to bring it up to DH support to find the absolute answer.
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You can, but it is a violation of the TOS and you will likely get your account terminated and lose the money you have paid. Read the TOS, and/or visit http://abuse.dreamhost.com for further information.
–rlparker
Patrick, actually his “case”, as he described it, is not “tricky” at all.
Note this excerpt from The DreamHost Abuse Center, Under “Copyright Infringment, Our Rules”:
[quote] Note that we also prohibit the facilitation of copyright infringement. This means that linking to pirated files (even those located on non-DreamHost servers), operating BitTorrent trackers that primarily feature illegal material, the operation of ‘warez’ forums, etc. are prohibited.
Obviously, there is some subjectivity to these matters, and it is very easy to accidentally facilitate copyright infringement even if this is not intended. For that reason, we do take a reasonable approach when deciding what constitutes contributory copyright infringement. For example, embedding one or two YouTube videos on your site is a very different matter than running a site whose main purpose is to index and link to downloads of commercial Hollywood movies.
Term: Distribution
For the purposes of our policies, ‘distribution’ entails either distributing material directly from your account (ie. sharing files from your web space or via FTP) or embedding material located on non-DreamHost servers so that it displays within your server. It also includes willfully facilitating copyright infringement by linking to known infringing works, as described above. [/quote]
(bolding is mine)
“Bringing it up to support” is something that the OP is always welcome to do, but DreamHost has made it very clear how they view the kind of situation he describes. 
This is pretty much the standard position that most reputable U.S. based web hosting companies take (depending, of course, on what one considers to be “reputable”).
–rlparker
Then what would happen if I link to a perfectly legal file and someone replace that file with a not so legal file. Wouldn’t I be in trouble?
In what situations and how often does this happen?
At any rate, I think the following part of the terms of service would apply:
My guess is that they’d use their judgment and decide whether you were fibbing and base their actions on that. They’ll also probably look at whether the preponderance of your links point to legitimate content vs. illegitimate.
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BTW, it’s probably worth mentioning to the OP that as long as he keeps it legal, it’s fine. So links to free programs and scripts is fine (as long as your linkage is within their copyright) - as is links to legitimate downloads of commercial software (free trials, stores, etc).
Not that I’m encouraging such behavior, but I will note that describing ways of finding such sites/links as you describe may be within DMCA rules as long as such a description is vague enough to avoid being considered “instructional”.
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It would still be your responsibility. You would be wise to check the integrity of your external links from time to time if you think that they might change (which seems highly unlikely).
– si-blog –
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Please tell me you are kidding. Are you talking about posting instructions for how to build an improvised explosive device, or do you (hopefully) mean something else?
– si-blog –
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Posting instructions for IEDs may be legal in the US “at the moment”, but may soon be against federal law. Senator Fienstien(sp?), et al have sponsored legislation to make such content illegal.
This is also happening in the EU, as discussed here.
Between your post and the original start of the thread, the following is “food for thought”:
If the content is illegal in the US, it can not be posted on a US server. Can a US citizen find shelter by posting off-shore? I am not sure.
Also, consider a US citizen posting content legal in the US, and illegal in the EU, then taking a vacation in the EU. When traveling abroad, US citizens are subject to the laws in the country they are traveling to. A US citizen could be prosecuted for breaking EU law.
If a citizen in the EU were to post content illegal in the EU, but legal in the US, on a server in the US, that individual would not be sheltered from prosecution in the EU.
BTW, IANAL.
Regards,
Rudy
Of course. My response was to the OP’s question and his own description of what he meant - “warez” are not “legal”
–rlparker
Better get, and squirrel away, your copy of the anarchist cookbook now!
I, for one, welcome our new AmeriKan fascist overlords! Those kinds of laws have the potential to become the internet equivalent of “book banning”, and I hate to see such things.
It will probably happen though; Americans nowdays seem to be generally ambivalent about the erosion of their freedoms in general and over-management of their lives by their government in particular.
–rlparker
And the really sad thing is that these laws “designed” to protect the populace are doing no such thing – they merely give the illusion thereof.
Anybody with half a brain and a decent chemistry class in highschool can build bombs. Anybody with any interest at all in chemistry can learn how explosions work, and what could be used to make them. Anybody with any talent in engineering can make a timer device (or just buy an eggtimer or a simple alarm clock). You really don’t need the anarchist cookbook or any other kind of documentation for all of this …
But hey, once the great filter of the US is in place, it can be used for more productive stuff. Like squelching any dissent at all. Whoops.
heh – I agree completely and was alluding to the same point. I just used the anarchist cookbook as an example. Generally speaking, trying to legislate access to information is almost as futile as it is misguided to my way of thinking.
–rlparker
