• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

software piracy? kinda long but help please

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

D

dummy me

Guest
ok first off i will say im sorry if this is a repeated question or one that doesnt need to be here. now before i ask my questions ill give a little story behind them. i travel often and always carry my laptop with me. i carry 2 cds with me and a zip drive. i put a copy of a trial ftp program i downloaded from the internet on the cd and the zips is where i keep all the files i need like documents and such. i also keep some secret files(i will explain) well im allways playing with the laptop and usually mess some stuff up and i throw my restore disk in to fix it. then use the ftp program to log into my personal server at home. on my server at home i have put copies of all program cds that i own so that i dont have to worry about being 500 miles away and needing them. i understand i am allowed to make a backup copy of any program i have as long as i still own the original. to be on the safe side i have used winace to "spit the file up". i take one of the files from each program and put them onto one of the zip files, those are the secret files i refered to earlier. the reasoning for that is that if anyone other than me managed to get into my server and download something it wont work for them they wont have a working copy from me. also on the same computer i have a http server set up for a small website for one of my hobbies(model cars if your wondering) i have often posted the address to my site on the net in newsgroups and other web sites. so my ip address is open to the public. i havent bought a domain name so the address is just my ip. ok now to my problem and questions. i was away from home for about 4 months. well while checking my email one day i got an email from someone i never heard of. i read it and this is a short version of what it said. "i found your server of wares. ive downloaded some and can prove you have them, uploaded some and can prove you took them. pay $5000 and i wont tell the feds" there was other stuff but you get the point. i always keep a log on my computer of all ftp transfers and http visits. i checked it when i got home and sure enough i found where he got into my ftp server. he also uploaded about 2gb worth of software. i deleted it on the spot. i know what he is doing is blackmail but im not concerned with that. no i didnt pay and im not going to. well while sorting through several legal sites and asking questions i have came across some concerns. now to the questions i have

1. i know that since i have posted my ip address in different places its known to the public, does that mean anyone can come into my ftp site? never was said that there is a ftp server only a http server.
2. where i made the copies of the disks to programs i own i also made them where they couldnt be used, or so i thought. if someone gets something that doesnt work and they figure out a way to make it am i responsible?
3. if someone comes into my computer and leaves pirated software on my computer but i delete it when i find out am i still considered accepting it?
4. should i keep my logs of who, when, and where anything illegal like that happened from? im not going to call the government to get into the middle of all this but just in case the guy does get mad, since im not going to pay him, and calls and turns me in.
5. did i miss anything that you can see i need to be concerned with?


i believe i cured the problem with people getting into my ftp server but there is allways someone who is smarter than the programs and such. thanks for any and all input. oh and i live in tn but since its this kind of stuff i dont think that will matter any.
 



Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top