Torrenting is known to be a way of file-sharing that enables you to share all you want and is not considered to be illegal. However, things get tough when word piracy pops in and this where the question comes in if torrenting is legal? The answer here is that it’s legal to the extent that the content you are accessing and downloading is not copyright protected. If it is copyright protected that torrenting can cause you a lot of trouble.
Some countries do not permit its use and this leads to a tricky situation for the service providers as the consequences of torrenting in areas where it is illegal can be risky for example; imprisonment. On the other hand, there are countries where torrenting is safe and legal; this is because it is considered piracy. In such countries, they do not mind torrenting as long as you follow the rules. As well as you can use VPN for torrenting to hide your online activities.
Let’s have a look at the 5 countries safe for torrenting;
1. Mexico
Mexico is one of the safest countries for torrenting as the copyright laws here are nearly non-existent. They do have few laws related to piracy but they are mostly left behind by the events. It is considered one of the most torrent-friendly countries, as nearly all the file-sharing is done through P2P networks like BitTorrent.
2. Spain
Spain was basically among the first ones to make torrenting legal. It acknowledged the intention to make money by breaking copyright laws. Therefore, as long as you are not torrenting to enjoy profits from it, you are free and safe to use torrent.
In 2006, Spanish courts allowed torrents to download for personal use but with some protections such as personal data linked with an IP address will only be revealed in time of the criminal investigation. File-sharing is taken as a civil matter in the country. Around 1/3rd of the population uses file-sharing websites.
3. Netherlands
Torrenting in the Netherlands is restricted to some areas only and not completely safe. They followed a different approach and declared that as long as you are accessing and downloading work related to art, literature, or science you are a free individual with no intention to make a profit out of it.
Downloading content in the country is often ignored but downloading software files through torrent is illegal here and you will be persecuted as a consequence.
It is basically art vs. software. So if you plan to download software files through torrenting be ready for the consequences.
4. Switzerland
Switzerland supports personal privacy and free speech with high regard. This means, torrenting is okay for your personal use only. You are allowed by the Swiss government to download anything only if it’s for your personal use. This means that you are not allowed to enjoy financial gains from torrenting when in Switzerland. Moreover, no one can monitor your torrent files or downloads as this will breach your privacy or free speech.
5. Canada
The Canadian government permits file sharing through torrents. You can download artwork or music freely here. The only thing restricted here is saving the logging data of users with torrents.
As we stated earlier that torrent is not illegal initially if you are downloading content that is not copyrighted and the laws of the particular land allow you to do so.
However, due to some disturbing increase in torrent related crimes, some countries have banned torrenting for good.
The legalization of torrenting is still a huge debate throughout the world. One side considers that it is a file-sharing site so it should be legal if no profits are made while the other side thinks it should be illegal as it is breaking copyright laws and breaching privacy.
Countries like Switzerland attempted to state that it should be legal, nations like Mexico still have zero interest in the issue and countries like the USA are still old schooled on the matter of torrenting. Hence we cannot say that 50% of areas of the world are safe for torrenting as this is not the case as of now. But we’ve mentioned above the major safest areas for torrenting, where it is not considered to be illegal. Still if you are facing issues while torrenting we highly recommend VPN like Cyberghost.
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