Friday, February 27, 2009

Legal Movie Download Sites

By Kyle Wright

It was not long after the internet explosion in the late 90s, that file sharing software began to appear on the net. Everyone surely remember when Napster was huge. The original version only allowed frequent visitors to download songs.

Is downloading movies off the internet illegal? If it is, how can people get caught? And what are all the repercussions to downloading a movie?

As stated before, there are many programs out there but one of the more popular ones is the programs Bear Share. Bear Share encourages the users to have shortened videos and movie files less than fifteen minutes long but that doesn?t stop the users. If the file isn?t complete then it is broken down into parts.

Another notorious program similar to Bare Share is Limewire. Often files are placed on there well before their boxed release or their theater release. Movies like Frost Nixon, American Gangster and Grand Torino was on there well before they were scheduled to be out.

One that you might come across on Bare Share and Limewire is the mpeg format. Mpeg stands for ?Moving Picture Expert Group? and it was specifically designed for internet and downloading movies. To view an mpeg format movie you will need QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

When the movie file is completely downloaded, it goes to either your Limewire or Bare Share library folder. You now can open it with a video viewing program like Windows Media Player or QuickTime and watch it. Another idea is to burn it to a CDR and watch it as a DVD.

One big worry people have with using file sharing is whether or not downloading movies is illegal. It is illegal because all the movies are protected under copywriting laws. New movies are often bootlegged or leaked so that makes them illegal to posses as well.

One type of streaming file format is the swf. Sites like Youtube use this format to play movies in their web browsers. To watch these films you will need Adobe Flash Player, which is free for download on their webpage.

One risk you run with downloading movies and other files from both of these is the threat of intrusive malware and spyware. Both can be stopped by regular Norton patrols of your hard drive. It is important that you have your security on while using these programs.

Because of the above reasons of safety and illegality, both programs have seen a significant drop in members. There are less peers to share your movies with therefore there are less movies to download. Nonetheless, this is still the place to find new movies on the internet.

It is important to consider what you put on your computer. It is fair to say that a lot of people download illegal content. If brought to court, a movie that you could of rented for a few bucks could cost you thousands. If you still want to download, sites like Amazon and Netflicks allows you to do it legally and responsibly. - 16651

About the Author: