Legal Movies Download - How You May Be Unintentionally Downloading Illegal Movies
Never before has entertainment in all its forms been so widely available to so many people. We can thank the rapid expansion of the Internet for this as well as the proliferation of broadband use in increasing numbers of households. With this horn of plenty comes thorny issues concerning ethics and safety.
Ethics and safety are the primary motivations for a lot of the people that look for legal sources of movie downloads. Whatever your reasons, you still may be unintentionally getting your movies illegally. Because of this, you could be exposing your computer to the risks and consequences of viruses and spy ware.
It isn't enough to stay away from spammy and amateurish looking download sites. It is still possible to download illegally when using professional looking web sites that are technically conducting a legal business. This can happen even if you paid a fee and the web site owner has the best of intentions.
So how does this come about? If the web site offers access to astronomical quantities of movies for a one time fee of say $20 or $30, then in all likelihood, he's setting you up with the software and know-how for accessing and downloading movies from a peer to peer (p2p) file sharing network. His business is not breaking the law (there really are astronomical downloads to be had on p2p) and he is delivering value if you didn't have the knowledge or tools for this type of downloading.
The dangers begin once you are set up and become proficient at using p2p networks. If you use p2p naively without an awareness of the associated risks, then the stage is set for damaging your computer with a virus or suffering from identity theft because of spy ware. Of course, most of the recent and not so recent movies that you'll have access to are copyright protected and were illegally uploaded.
Having an anti-virus program installed on your computer won't guarantee complete protection from the viruses that are set loose on p2p. These programs only detect and protect your computer from the specific viruses and spy ware that they have definitions for. If the virus is new, or obscure, or is a modified version of a well known virus, then your computer is vulnerable.
When it comes to knowing whether or not a movie is legal for download, the only rule of thumb is that if it is a very old movie (preferably in black and white) then it is probably in the public domain and is therefore legal. If the movie is the latest Hollywood blockbuster and is available for free on p2p, then it got there illegally. If you want to find legal movies in the gray area between these two extremes, then you'll have to do a lot of research.
So downloading movies that are safe and legal is not exactly a relaxed and effortless affair like flipping on the TV set after a long day at work. Life is too short to be worrying about the safety of your computer and of your personal information. Your time is too valuable to be researching movie copyrights.
Perhaps it's worth your while to find a well established movie download site that guarantees the safety and legality of all of their downloads and doesn't set you up with p2p downloading. It is impossible (and crazy) for any business owner to make guarantees with respect to the peer to peer download networks. If you use p2p networks, you are on your own.
Marc Sandford has an extensive interest in movie and video downloads from the Internet. See his critical review of two well known legal movies download sites at http://www.squidoo.com/Movie-Download-Membership-Movie-Club-Online.
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: May 2, 2008
Buffalo Technology Gives iPhone Users Anytime, Anywhere Access to ... - MarketWatch
Top 50 'best beach scenes in movies' revealed - Times of India
Programmer of BMA's defunct film series urges: Seek out 'riskiest ... - Baltimore Sun
Baltimore Sun Programmer of BMA's defunct film series urges: Seek out 'riskiest ... Baltimore Sun, United States - I grew up in Columbia, in a house without a television ... and my Dad, who loves great American movies , took me and my older sister to repertory series at ...