[feel free to pass this around to anyone who could use this. education is the key.] I ran the idea of HL warez servers insisting that they are merely providing a place for people to put their one backup copy past an attorney friend of mine, who went into hysterics. "Have they ever read the license agreement from a piece of software?" he said. Well, shit, I hadn't, and I imagine not that many people who run servers spend too much time poring over these sincerely boring documents, either. But, just for your amusement, here's a clause from the agreement to a piece of Claris software: [this license allows you to:] (b) Make one copy of the Software in machine readable form solely for backup purposes. Additionally, only so long as the Software is installed only on the permanent memory of a single desktop computer which is not accessible by multiple computers and that single desktop computer is used by one user for at least 80% of the time the computer is in use, that same user may also make a copy of the Software to use on a portable or home computer which is primarily used by such user. As an express condition of this License, you must reproduce on each copy any copyright notice or other proprietary notice that is on the original copy supplied by Claris. So it looks like the "backup server" jive will provide nada in terms of protection from the law, not to mention the fact that uploaders and admins are running into trouble even if they sincerely are running private backup servers, on the off chance that that ever happens. Also, IM (non-legally trained) HO, stating in the agreement that cops, FBI, SPA, CIA, NSA, KGB, whoever are not allowed provides next to no protection against illegal search and seizure and may potentially land you in agua mas caliente. It's a lot easier (and perhaps more satisfying, trying to get in the head of a SPA guy or a fed) to bust people when there is strong evidence that the perp was knowingly engaging in illegal shit. By saying "no cops," you are making it crystal clear that you know that you're doing something illegal and doing it anyway. Trust me, the software publishing industry is big biz, and big biz=top-flight attorneys, which means that some 18-year-old kid's idea of a legal dodge has about a snowball's chance in Nogales, Arizona of standing up in court if you get hauled in for warez trading. If you don't want to get caught, don't run a server. If you do run a server, don't get big, be careful about who you let in, don't give out your name or address, especially don't charge people $$$. Don't rely on pseudo-legal tricks to take the place of plain old common sense and caution. I'm not telling anyone to stop, I'm not telling anyone to start, just be realistic about what you're doing. (nightswimmer)