Does Popcorn Time for web & Torrents Time also upload/seed?

[ribtin]

Or do they only download?

While I know the regular clients of Popcorn time uploads while it's downloading, I was told that the Popcorn time browser-plugin and Torrents Time browser plugin does not upload at all...?

The reason why I'm asking, is because if they only download, wouldn't that make them fully legal in a lot of countries?

EDIT: This question is referring to Popcorn Time for web-browser and Torrents Time for web-browser, not the application popcorn time.

[dolly_cat]

For now, Popcorn Time seeds the file when you watch it. This is how it was implemented by the creators of Popcorn Time.
We are looking into changing this and add the possibility to share more, but this requires works, and not only from our side, but from Peerflix.
As soon as we have something working, we'll tell everyone!
Corto Popcorn Time Communication Manager

I got this one from reddit and the post is about 1 year old. Yes, they also have seeding features.

[ribtin]

Thanks for the response. But am I right in understanding that your post is referring from the regular popcorn time, and not the popcorn time for the web-browser? (sorry if my original question was not clear on that)

[᠎]

It makes no difference, the answer is the same: the question is too vague to be definitively answered.

"Seeding" is a technical term referring specifically to uploading done AFTER a file has been completely downloaded. Whether Popcorn Time for web & Torrents Time "seeds" or not it definitely uploads WHILE it is downloading. Legally, the distinction would not be significant.

As to what exactly is legal or not, that varies by legal jurisdiction--there are hundreds of those (at the very least) and every one is different.

Even in countries where it is statutorily legal / not legal, case law is scant and for the most part inconclusive.

Even where there is case law, that doesn't stop new legal strategies being tried.

Even then, the ability to be able to win a court case is not a pre-requisite to legal threats. These guys aren't stupid--they pitch their demands low enough that most people will choose not to defend them. You need balls to call their bluff. If you're not up for that, you generally won't be willing to take the time/cost/risk of defending yourself in court when faced with a team of lawyers and a demand for just a few hundred/thousand dollars.

[ribtin]

Sorry about my question being vague.

While I know the regular clients of Popcorn time uploads while it's downloading, I thought several of these clients also have the option to disable uploading? And I was told that the Popcorn time browser-plugin and Torrents Time plugin did not upload at all...?

[dolly_cat]

I don't know, and it's irrelevant. The speed is in both cases very slow, and not enough to reach 1.0 ratio (too keep the torrent alive).

[᠎]

As I said, it makes no difference to your proposed defense strategy but, fwiw, you were told wrong--they upload, and you cannot stop them from doing so.

[ribtin]

I never intended to propose a defense strategy.

But I read a lot of news articles saying that the browser-plugins are illegal to use, which would be incorrect (in my country) if they did not upload.

Also, not only are there some branches of popcorn time that have a "disable uploading" feature, but stopping popcorn time from uploading could theoretically also be done by configuring a firewall or router.

[᠎]

I never intended to propose a defense strategy.

That's not what you said in your opening post--you said that was the reason you were asking.

The reason why I'm asking, is because if they only download, wouldn't that make them fully legal in a lot of countries?

Whether or not it would be legal in your country is unknown. By me, by anyone else here, and by you.

None of us can know.

Governments pass laws but it takes Courts to decide on how they are to be applied and that takes court cases.

You will not know whether the use of Popcorn time is legal in your country until a court case on it's use is won or lost (and the appeal process completed). Until then you are, literally, guessing. And since you are obviously not a lawyer, it is in an uneducated guess at that.

Even then, laws can change and precedents can be overturned.

None of which even touches on the fact that courts can make mistakes, particularly when it comes to the nuances of new technology, and political pressures.

Even assuming you were able to block all uploading (without seeing your downloading crippled in return) you would have to have the resources and inclination to risk defending yourself, the evidence to be able to prove exactly what you were/were not doing, and a lawyer more skilled than the team of lawyers facing you at convincing a judge/jury of non-technical-literates that what you were doing was non-infringing.

tl; dr = it is not a slam dunk no matter what you think.

[ribtin]

What's with the attitude? I merely asked a question. Are we not allowed to do that on this forum?

The fact that I said my reason for asking was because it would make it legal, does not mean I was considering using it as an argument in a court of law. BUT there are currently an abundance of news articles stating that "the fact that this plugin also uploads, means it is breaking the law", which would be incorrect if it does in fact NOT upload.

All your arguments are completely beside the point, and not what this topic is about. I'm simply wondering if the plugin uploads/shares/seeds/spreads/distributes, or if it merely downloads/streams without sending any data back out? Can you please try to stick to this simple question?

Thank you.