There are plenty of things in Internet that we use for fun or for our daily life purposes, and maybe we are downloading unknowingly something that is illegal in Internet now or was illegal from the start. Let's make internet more secure and share with your friends what is illegal in internet.
1. Torrenting copyrighted material Many of you thinks that torrenting is legal, and you are correct torrenting itself is legal but torrenting copyright materials in the internet is illegal.
2. Trolling in online Trolls aren’t well-regarded on the internet. More than a quarter of respondents admitted to starting arguments with strangers or posting, and a full 12% admitted to posting a comment that had to be removed by a moderator. But if you’re among those self-professed trolls, you might want to rethink your behavior online. Mark Wilson reports for FindLaw that while trolling itself doesn’t carry criminal sanctions under federal law (at least not federal law in the U.S.), trolling that turns into harassment, stalking, or bullying can definitely be a crime.
3. Cyberbullying via a social network Bullying someone online via social network is absolutely illegal. It is more likely to happen among teens rather than adults.You shouldn’t ever threaten or harass someone online.
4. Recording a Skype call without permission Recording a Skype call with a friend or a colleague may sound like a good idea, especially if you don’t want to have to take notes about the project you’re discussing. But in some states, recording private conversations without the consent of everyone involved is illegal. And posting a call online without consent could get you into even more trouble.
5. Faking your identity online According to Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, using a fake name online is technically illegal. While it’s unlikely that you’ll get in trouble with the law for using a fake name or a made-up username on your favorite websites, you’ll need to pay attention to the terms of service for the websites that you’re using. Facebook, for instance, is infamous for its real name policy, which requires Facebook members to use the same names they use in real life (with the recent addition of specific support for LGBTQ issues, non-Western names, and instances of stalking or abuse).
6. Using other people’s internet networks Another surprising activity that numbers among things that are now illegal on the internet? Connecting to someone else’s Wi-Fi network, even if it’s unsecured and you can log on without a password. The same Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that makes it technically illegal to use a fake name online makes it very illegal to access someone else’s computer or network. While you probably won’t get arrested for using someone else’s Wi-Fi, there have been a few cases where people were arrested for using someone else’s internet network without permission. That just means there’s another reason to pay attention and protect yourself when you’re looking for free Wi-Fi.
7. Downloading and reusing copyrighted images There’s a lot of confusion about how you can use images that you find online. Most people assume that when an image appears in their Google Image Search results, that means that they can download or use the image however they want to. But that’s not actually the case. As Karl Hodge reports for MacWorld, the creator of an illustration or photograph actually owns the copyright to the image, whether or not they have registered it with any organization or placed a warning on their website. Just because an image is online doesn’t mean that it’s in the public domain. Just downloading an image isn’t going to get you in trouble, but if you’re downloading an image with the intent of reusing it, you’ll need to obtain the rights from the copyright holder, or just find an image that you can use for free. Surprisingly, this means that even using a copyrighted video or image to create a GIF or a meme is technically illegal — though you’re pretty unlikely to get in trouble.
