Originally Posted by: TwangerdangerSince US copyright laws can't enforce what other countries do, is it illegal for me to download and visit these sites in other countries, even if I don't have to enter any type of password to access the material?
Absolutely. You can get busted big time and/or a huge fine. I don't recall all the details, but there was a case in the past year or so where some lady (US citizen) got fined $400,000 for downloading stuff via a file sharing program. And it wasn't tons of stuff, either. I forget the number, but it was relatively small.
She was the recipient, she downloaded the stuff just like you. It doesn't matter what the program was. There might be some extradition laws that could hide you, but these days most countries are co-operating on that sort of thing.
...so ever since then, I always hang on to the buckle.