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> You can click on a magnet link that claims to download a Debian ISO just to find out later that it's something else entirely

This is just fear mongering, the same exact thing can happen with a web browser, I click a link to view an image of a cat but... oops, it was actually a Getty copyrighted picture of a dog! Oh nooooo.

On the web that sort of thing is actually common, but bit torrent? I have never downloaded a torrent to find it was something other than what I expected. Never have I seen a movie masquerading as a Debian ISO. That's nothing more than a joke people use to make light of their (deliberate) copyright infringement.

Furthermore, is there even any bit torrent client that will recommend copyrighted content to you, rather than merely download what you tell it to? I've not seen one. Search engines, in my browser, do that sort of recommendation but bit torrent clients do what I tell them to. Including seeding to others, which is optional but recommended for obvious reasons.



> I click a link to view an image of a cat but... oops, it was actually a Getty copyrighted picture of a dog! Oh nooooo

Sorry, what?

Downloading copyrighted content is very, very rarely the problem.

It's the uploading (the sharing!) of copyrighted content where you actually get into trouble.


If you actually care, then simply configure your client to leech. Every client I've ever used or heard of supports this.

But more to the point, getting tricked into seeding a copyrighted movie by a torrent masquerading as a Debian ISO isn't something that actually happens. That's absurd FUD.


Errm, you posted:

> "This is just fear mongering, the same exact thing can happen with a web browser, I click a link to view an image of a cat but... oops, it was actually a Getty copyrighted picture of a dog! Oh nooooo."

No-one cares whether you download an open-sourced photo of a cat or a copyrighted photo of a dog.

Why would anyone claim that?

It's a terrible comparison to torrents.




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