15 Things You've Done on the Internet That Are Probably Illegal
Don't get caught.
Image via Complex Original
Often dubbed the modern Wild West, the Internet is a mind field of the addicting and the didactic, the legal and the illegal. When traversing the murky depths of the web, it's important to be careful of these things, and keep in mind that what you're doing exists in a public sphere, and can often be viewed by very public people. To know exactly what you're doing that is illegal on the Internet, here's a guide to what you've been doing on the Internet that is illegal (not that we're asking you to stop), and some fun facts about these illegal activities you find and silly laws you find yourself regularly overstepping online.
Cyberbullying Someone Via Social Media
As the use of social media has become more prevalent in recent years, so has its use for somewhat nefarious purposes, particularly in the realm of cyberbullying. While this typically happens among teens, who typically have no regard or knowledge for the law—at least according to the old man who wants those social-media-using teens to get off his lawn, this inflammatory online action is actually illegal. According to Title 18, Section 875, Subsection C of the United States Penal Code (we know, it's a mouthful): "Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both," and this also applies to threats or harassment that occurs online. It's unlikely that this will land you in prison unless the resulting threats leads to injury, but it's best to bite your tongue when it comes to making threats in a public forum.
Fact: Over 50 percent of teens report experiencing cyberbulling between the ages of 13 and 17.
Torrenting
Torrenting itself is actually legal, if they're linked to non-copyrighted material, but this often isn't the case. Unless the person releasing the torrent is a small-time developer, it probably contains something they don't own in it. While anyone that doesn't go on a Torrent downloading spree is unlikely to get caught, it's still important to check your download speed and size, and make sure you're not going to get on anyone's radar.
Fact: 98.8 percent of torrenting is used for copyrighted materials.
Using an Ad Blocker
Ads suck, no doubt about it, but using an ad blocker to bypass them not only makes advertisers lose billions of dollars in revenue every year, but also threatens pulling their ads from sites, rendering them inert. Not viewing these ads is like not paying the fare to view the content, and this actually constitutes theft, although in this day and age, it's totally impossible to enforce. Still, when using an ad blocker, keep in mind that you're hurting the site your freely viewing content from, and not the evil advertising corporations that inconvenience you so much with their ads.
Fact: Ad blocking is most prominent in Austarlia, where 22.5 percent of Internet users block ads.
Using Unofficial TV Streaming Services
This one should be pretty clear, but to some, it's the only way to watch current television in a timely manner. Still, don't forget that using unofficial TV services such as Project Free TV and Channel 131, even if the quality is low, is not okay under current copyright law.
Fact: Both movies and television account for 49.7 percent of illegal content pirated online.
Connecting To the Deep Web
It's best to think of what you're doing online as casting a net in an ocean. You're going to grab some fish, but you're not going to get everything on the bottom. That's what the Deep Web is for, the seedy underbelly of the Internet where you can get everything from assassins to murder your loved ones to illicit materials that probably shouldn't be named. Be careful though, while accessing the Deep Web itself is not illegal, accessing some of the content within can net you some hefty jail time if caught.
Fact: You need to download TOR and reroute your IP to access anything even close to illegal content on the Net. You can download TOR, which in of itself is perfectly legal, here.
Buying Bitcoin
Despite popular belief, Bitcoin is not actually legal tender, and as such is not affiliated with any country or region. Bitcoin can be used to buy a variety of items, from hookers, to blow, to assassins, but nothing that is actually, you know, legal. As such, Bitcoin itself is not actually illegal, but what you can purchase with it is solely illegal, as people don't sell legal things, like healthcare and car insurance, for Bitcoin.
Fact: Bitcoin is so popular in Argentina due to their poor economy that inflation rates have gone up on Bitcoin there by 25 percent.
Faking Your Name Online
Using fake names online is like a dime a dozen, nearly everyone does it. Whether it's an Xbox Live account name or posting on a forum, this is surprisingly illegal according to the intentionally vague "unauthorized access" clause of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. While it's unlikely that your ridiculous username of XxKoolKidPlayaxX will get you arrested anytime soon, it's important to be careful about your identity online.
Changing Your IP Address
While masking your IP address is perfectly legal, changing it and falsely advertising what your IP is online is illegal. This also falls under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Just like creating fake Facebook profiles, changing your IP Address constitutes fraud online, so even though many of us do it to hide our identity,it can result in jail time if caught.
Using Unsecure Wi-Fi Networks
Just like you wouldn't go and pee in someone's toilet without permission of the owner of the toilet, you also shouldn't be using someone's unsecured Wi-Fi Network without permission. Under everyone's favorite set of laws, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, this could be considered theft, so make sure that if you don't have the person's permission, they're at least not the type of person to report you before stealing their Wi-Fi.
Creating GIFS and Memes
While GIFS and memes are so prevalent thanks to BuzzFeed, Reddit and the rest of the ridiculous side of the Internet, they are actually not legal. If you think about it, they all use images from popular culture or stock photography, which in turn, are copyrightable images. Not that you will likely get in any sort of trouble for making one, but it's good to be aware.
Streaming Certain Tracks on Grooveshark
Despite the fact that Spotify and Pandora exists, Grooveshark is still going strong as a streaming service. Still though, it turns out that Grooveshark doesn't exactly have the rights to every track that it allows to stream, and as a result, you could get in a bit of a slap on the wrist if you stream certain tracks through their service.
Fact: As of April 2013, Grooveshark is filtered under Googles piracy filter.
Traversing The Silk Road
Perhaps what the aforementioned Deep Web is most famous for, The Silk Road acts like the Silk Road of old, a destination and one-stop-shop for everything and anything you want to buy. From drugs and other illicit substances to home furnishing, The Silk Road is like the eBay of the underworld. Just enter at your own risk, as you'll be breaking several of the rules on this list just by viewing it.
Fact: The Silk Road can be accessed through The Hidden Wiki, which requires TOR to even look at.
Selling on eBay Without Declaring Earnings
Income tax is one of those things you're supposed to pay when you're an adult and have a real adult job, but apparently many people who run eBay stores don't consider that to be an actual job. If you're selling one or two miscellaneous items, it won't really matter, but if you're a regular seller or reseller, you're supposed to report your earnings to the Income Tax Department. Otherwise, you may find the IRS banging on your door, like it's, you know, their job.
Using Copyrighted Material
This should also be an obvious one, but using copyrighted material in any form on the Internet is not actually legal. Sure, BuzzFeed does it all the time, but that doesn't mean they should, as it has been argued unsuccessfully that simply putting an image in a list does not constitute fair use. On such a small scale, it's unlikely you'll get called on it, particuarly if it's a widely used image with a murky original rights holder, but it's still good to be careful when making your own original content on the web.
Fact: Idaho photographer Kai Eislen sued BuzzFeed for $3.6 million after his images apperaed on the site without his permission.
Sharing Subscription Passwords
Whether its iTunes, Netflix, or HBO Go, sharing your subscription passwords with your family and friends is actually not legal. About one third of people surveyed about sharing subscriptions password straight up admitted to doing it, but it turns out that even though it is currently deemed illegal, it may actually benefit the services in the long term.