In light of recent events, such as that of a lawsuit being filed against a Boston University graduate who is being accussed of illegally sharing songs online, I am curious to find out other forensic professionals opinions on whether or not it is both legal and ethical for examiners to download music files off of Limewire or Kazaa but not to share them. Would it look bad in court if you do download music off a P2P program? What are your thoughts?
(Ironically I'm in the middle of EnCase's Advanced Internet Forensics class right now - and we just finished the P2P section)
Do you mean downloading as part of a case or downloading as something they do on their own time?
Tom
My question pertains to downloading music for your computer/mp3/CD's on your own time at your home.
I can't comment on the legal side as I am on the other side of the pond. But if you downloaded the material without the permission of the copyright holder, there must be a strong argument that this is not ethical behavoir. Especially if you handle cases that involve breaches of copyright
My stand on it is that I never load any of the P2P file sharing programs on any of my computers, personal or otherwise due to the risk involved in using these programs. The exception is when I am doing research on the forensic side of it. Then I use them on an isolated computer strictly for testing.
And it is well known that downloading copyrighted materials from P2P is illegal, at least here in the US. So why risk it?
It's been my (albeit limited) experience that the folks who have no problem using P2P networks to download quantities of copyrighted material have never actually produced anything themselves. Writing open source tools that are intended to be freely distributed is one thing…creating something that takes considerable effort that is intended to be sold but is then distributed freely is a different matter entirely.
I suppose another way to look at it is situational ethics…a great deal of trust is required of someone who does forensic analysis. I know that a great deal of what I've seen, if reported, could invalidate compliance standings. But I am trusted to do what I am asked to do, and not violate NDAs. If I'm found to be downloading massive quantities of copyrighted material for my own use, thereby violating those copyrights…does that not then extend to other areas of my life, professional or otherwise?
As someone who has created copyrighted material, I have to say that I've also had folks take my stuff and pass it off (verbatim) as their own. That just isn't cool.
My question pertains to downloading music for your computer/mp3/CD's on your own time at your home.
No offence intended but are you kidding me? Come on, like there is even a question. Any forensic investigator who deliberately goes out of his/her way to download copyrighted music needs their head looking at. It is unethical, illegal, and it should immediately discredit you as a witness.
This doesn't just apply to music, it applies to ALL copyrighted material including the tools we use. Too many times I've seen people using the 'dongle-free' versions of EnCase and FTK and just wondered what I would do if I came up against them in court.
Its not worth it, don't do it, its not worth your reputation, your job, or your career.
As someone who has created copyrighted material, I have to say that I've also had folks take my stuff and pass it off (verbatim) as their own. That just isn't cool.
I had a (now) ex Policeman try to rebadge some of my work on FastTrack P2P as his own - very annoying.