Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Issues With Using Pirated Films

By Eduardo Lester

We live in a world of on-demand satisfaction. To an extent, whatever you want, you can get and with home theaters becoming a social staple for families, the ability to download a movie that you want at the moment you want to see it is seductive.

Downloading music on iTunes or books onto a Kindle has made the notion of downloading entertainment mass market. To assume that being able to download a movie is the the next logical step. The notion, however, has always been fraught with thoughts of legality, that perhaps whatever is downloaded is nothing but a bootleg copy that will put a computer at risk and get you into trouble.

This way of thinking, in the beginning, was true. Almost all online movies that were bootleg copies usually recorded by camcorder of the movie screens, much like what is sold on street corners. If you watch these films you're committed infringement on copyright.

If a government agency wanted to crack down on sites that gave out free movie downloads, almost all web site owners would have no issue in handing over the list of IP addresses that had used the site in exchange for leniency.

Does this happen? Not yet. But the music industry has cracked down on illegal file sharing, levying steep fines to people across the country in exchange for not prosecuting them in court. It goes to say that logically, file sharing movies is the next step. In fact, a case is under review currently of a man who'd downloaded an unreleased film.

That doesn't mean that abstaining from any movie downloading websites is the way to go. There are still many sites that are both safe and legal. What to watch out for are any websites that promise you everything for nothing. These sites usually peddle in spyware and adware.

What is spyware? It's a malicious software that downloads onto your computer and records your actions on line. This can include recording keystrokes that can give away your passwords on a myriad of websites and open the door to having your identity stolen. Adware is not as malicious, but is a nuisance that can slow down the performance of your computer by inundating you with pop-up ads on the misguided thought that it will make you want to purchase one of the items.

To make sure that what you're doing is legal and safer, it's best to use websites that charge a fee for joining. Many websites charge only one-time fees at around $40 for unlimited downloads, much like the music site Napster. The fee will most likely protect you from inadvertently downloading any adware or spyware because of the added virus protection that many of these sites contain.

Wanting something for nothing, especially when downloading movies can lead to consequences that are annoying at least and dangerous at most. There are many good websites that you can utilize for movie downloads - just make sure to do your homework and choose wisely. - 40729

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