If you do download files, try to remember that the majority of bots serving the files aren't being willingly run by that computer's owner. It would be quite safe to say that many people who chose to download those files are now being used to serve the very same files to yourself and others, at no regard to that persons storage or bandwidth resources. The big question is not whether this is safe, or even if it is legal, but why would one want to contribute to this?
As for actively being hacked, there's really no need for someone to take the time to do so if you are downloading their file. Aren't they kind people to place that file in a self-extracting executable for you.
