Pirated Apps, Movies, Music, ...

[Tooma]

Hey!

I've grown up in a developing country where pirated software and media is not a big deal and it naturally became a part of my work.

I'm moving in few days to the US and someone advised me to get rid of all of the pirated content on my laptop. Now, I really wanna stop using such things but I need a transitional period, I can't just throw them all away in a moment, I use them on a daily basis.

My question is how dangerous/illegal it is to have few movies and couple of pirated software on my work laptop?

Did any of you keep at least one software that he couldn't pay for and find it indispensable for his work?

Some might find my questions redundant, but believe me it's hard to change what you've been doing your whole life.

Cheers,

[Strangefox]

I believe that having illegal stuff on your PC is fine. Downloading it while you are in the US, on the other hand, would be a bad idea.

[newms]

Yeah you don't want to be caught downloading pirated stuff. I'm not sure, but I think it could jeopardize your student visa status. As for illegal stuff already on your comp, I would suggest you get rid of it or legalize it if you could. If no one who would care about that stuff finds it on your comp then you'd be fine. In the unlikely chance that someone who does care about that stuff finds it on your comp then you may not be fine.

[eklavya]

the whole point of owning a pc is to keep it personal. so whatever pirated stuff you have downloaded, no one is going to know/care about it. but if you are caught downloading stuff from unauthorized p2p sharewares, that will most probably put you in risk. there are ways to do it undetected, but the risk factor is huge. so don't do it unless your life depends on it.