Originally Posted by kane

The problem with your logic is that in this example is that the Pirate Bay is not the VCR.

If we are going to use the VCR as an example then the actual bit torrent client is the VCR.

The VCR alone is useless. It is a paperweight. The same goes for a bit torrent client. You install it and until you have a torrent to download it is worthless to you. The Pirate Bay and sites like it are the content providers. They are like the video stores.

With the VCR you could rent or buy a video and watch it. With a bit torrent client you can download something you have purchased or have the rights to. The Pirate Bay supplies you with access to those items that you download. The difference is that the Pirate Bay supplies access to things that people should not have access to. They do nothing to stop it and don't even make a good faith effort to block access to those items.

So the bit torrent client is the VCR. The Pirate Bay is like Blockbuster Video only it also offers access to pirated videos.