Thanks for the replies - let me clear up some possible misunderstandings
First off, re 'soaking up someone elses bandwidth' - nope, I'm not
suggesting that at all - I'm quite happy to be paying for whatever
bandwidth I use up. The thing is, the bandwidth I might use up
COSTS LESS to you there, than it does to me here.
You dont perhaps understand - in SA - we're forced to pay a truly
exorbitant amount for bandwidth - AND that bandwidth is severely
limited. I spend $1,363.87 HK dollars (1200 rand local currency)
a month, for just 3 gigs of data.
That's for JUST 3 gigs in total, to be spread over 30 days.
(And a further $1,363 HK dollars for every extra 3 gigs thereafter.
Look at your own ISP's to see your costs and compare.)
Our monthly cost in SA for net, will probably purchase anywhere
from 100 - 500 times more bandwidth, in any other country, such
as the US, the UK, or HK.
Next off - I'm not coming from the 'warez kiddie' perspective or
motivation at all - in terms of data content - I actually collect old
radio shows from the 1920's and onwards - look up 'OTR' (Old Time
Radio) You'll see there's a wide and well established online
community of collectors, who enjoy listening to and sharing old
radio shows from 70 or so years back..
Given the monopoly in place in SA, and the insane artificial costs
of bandwidth here - it makes perfect sense for me to spend
roughly the same amount of money I spend here, there - to get
a VAST quantity of what I'm into, and to bring it back to SA for
my pleasure..
So understand, I'm not into pirated games/apps/music etc, I am a
collector of old audio material. And the slow local speeds,
combined with excessive costs far beyond what almost any other
country is paying for the same quantities of data - means its a
viable and valid alternative. (and 'quirky' etc etc)
What I can download at speed in four days, will take me months to
download locally, and cost me literally thousands of dollars at local
pricing for bandwidth, to obtain.
So no one's getting ripped off, no one's bandwidth is being 'stolen',
there's no money being made, no material is even being talked about
that's of value to anyone outside of fans of vintage radio stuff.
And if I was after the latest 'warez', that's very easily bought (or
downloaded) right here, for free. That's simply not my area of
interest at all.
If you're not in a country that's operating under a single telecom
monopoly, that's determined to squeeze huge amounts of money
from net users - for quantities of data that you folks probably take
for granted, then you may find this all a little difficult to comprehend.
I hope this clears up some of the possible misunderstandings. I'm not
suggesting anything illegal at all - just trying to find a good
workaround to my own county's stupid internet costs - and
gathering data, while having an HK shopping frenzy at the same
time
HK 'Cyber-tourism' 
