This is a question I ask myself from time-to-time as I download TV shows and movies from various less than legal sources. The obvious answer is, "It's illegal because you're not buying the DVDs and that is screwing everyone involved in making said movie/TV show out of their fair share of the money that would be made." Or even, "It's copyright infringement pure and simple and that's what makes it illegal." Maybe I'm just trying to justify my actions, but I feel like neither of these really makes sense. Back in the days of using a VCR I would record a show on a video cassette and re-watch it many times. I would even let friends borrow the tapes and watch them if they enjoyed what I had recorded. How is that different from downloading torrents? I never bought the DVDs when I was watching TV this way. Therefore the companies responsible for the shows or movies never lost any money. Even today I can DVR an episode of TV and watch it weeks later. If I choose to I could hook a VCR up to my TV and use it to copy the DVRed program to a tape and lend that out to the four people in the world that still use their VCRs on a regular basis.