You probably have friends that do it. Thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people do it each year. But, downloading music illegally from the Internet is not okay and can land you in a lot of trouble. When you download music illegally, you almost never have to pay for the music.

Both you and the site that is hosting the illegal files can be in lots of legal trouble for partaking in illegal downloads. It’s an area of the law that officials take seriously. And, don’t think that you can argue ignorance, it’s not a defense that’s been well received by the courts. The best policy is to never download illegally. It can be difficult to tell whether you’re downloading legally or illegally. If you’re paying for the music and it’s a large well-known site, more than likely you’re in the clear. The site usually has official policies listed on the blog and will list copyrights to the music. If the site is poorly designed, that can be a sign that the download is illegal. Also, if the music is free be suspicious and proceed with caution.

If you download music illegally, you could face a large fine. If you distribute that music the fine might be even larger. You can also be sent to jail for illegal downloads and distributions.

Whenever you download music from the Internet, make sure that the site is legitimate and that you have permission to download the music or risk facing stiff fines and even jail time.

To download or not. This debate has been going on for years, with the amount of free downloads available growing every day. There are definitely two distinct opinions on how illegally downloading music or downloading music for free is affecting the music industry. The people in the music industry see it as a huge problem and are fighting for copyright laws to be more strict, and for the punishment for pirating music to be harsher.

The recording industry believes that every time someone downloads music for free the music industry is losing a sale. The amount of lost revenue according to the Recording Industry Association of America is in the billions each year.  Not only is the recording industry losing money, but the individual artists are as well. Many people may believe that successful recording artists don’t need the money since they are making millions each year anyway, but they are putting in the work to create the music. They are entitled to the money that should be made from consumers buying it. If they continue to not get paid for their work, they may get discouraged from creating more. It also may discourage new artists from trying to break into the business.

On the other side, there are people that believe that downloading music from the internet is actually increasing sales of music. It could increase the exposure that artists get that they may not get otherwise. Unknown artists could be getting exposure from free downloads since consumers don’t have to pay to try out their music. The word can then spread, and then others will purchase the music legitimately.

Forgot to set the recorder and missed your favorite show again? You no longer have to wait for a rerun or rebroadcast months later to catch up on missed episodes. Comparable to viewing recorded or DVR programs, viewers are turning to their computers and the Internet to catch up on the latest episodes.

However, because of the controversy over downloading music from the Internet, many people wonder “is it legal to download TV programs”? Depending on whom you ask this question, the answer is mixed.

From a copyright perspective, it is only considered illegal if certain rules are not followed. When individuals use file-sharing networks to download TV programs, the legal owners of the TV rights have the potential for lost revenue. It is suggested to stay away from P2P or other file-sharing networks for TV viewing and program downloading. From the networks perspective, it is legal to download only from the network’s website and the downloaded material is used for the sole purpose of individual viewing and is not copied, shared or sold.

If you want to download TV programming, follow these general rules which are both reliable and fairly inexpensive.

- Go directly to television and cable-network programming web sites to watch the shows. As marketing and promotional tools, these sites air the full version of popular TV shows that can be legally download for viewing on your computer.

- The newest trend is to purchase TV shows that you can watch on your MP3 player or on a Web-enabled mobile phone. Many major MP3 and mobile phone providers are contracting with TV networks to sell current popular TV shows to users for a small fee.

- If you are having a hard time finding your favorite show online, consider contacting the television or studio directly. Since they want viewers to have a legal way of viewing programs, a representative from the network may be able to provide specific places to download legal copies of a show.

So the next time you miss your favorite TV program, choose one of the above options to legally and confidently download it for your viewing pleasure.

A great new song just played on the radio and you want it now. You know that you can listen or download it from the Internet, but aren’t sure from where and how to do it the right way. To legally download media or music from the Internet, it involves the exchange of files between the copyright owner of the materials and the individual end user.

Individuals new to using or downloading music to their system need to be careful of which websites to turn to and should adhere to the following:

- Utilize reputable MP3 music providers such as iTunes and Rhapsody to access previews of new music or to hear music from brand new artists. To find reputable MP3 providers, do a quick search on the Internet using the keywords “legal MP3 download sites”.

- When searching the Internet for legal downloads, stick with only trusted sites that you know are legitimate, legal, and have less potential of giving your system a virus or other unwanted programs. Make sure you check the source of the download, where the site obtained the download, and the permissions for use of the download.

- Want a free alternative, then log onto the Internet and find Internet radio stations. You can easily avoid the problem of illegal music downloads because radio stations, record labels , and similar web sites allow users to listen to their favorite music around the clock without any fees.

- Use the specific instructions supplied with your media player and always download music according to the instructions supplied on the music web site you utilize.
- Check for sites that host free and legal independent music artists, who are bands or artists breaking into the music field and trying to get noticed. Music is offered via free downloads as marketing promotions to get their name and music noticed by the industry.

If in doubt, check with the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to ensure the site you are downloading from is legal and endorsed. An up-to-date list is maintained on the RIAA website.

With the state our economy is in, and unemployment figures rising daily, the music industry has not escaped unscathed. Everyone who is fortunate enough to still have a job, including musical artists, need to do everything they can to prepare for the worst these days.

Stealing music by illegally downloading songs from the Internet, threatens to put those in the music profession, out of work.

When we think of performing artists, we do not consider all of those people who currently work for that artist, who depend on the sale of the artist’s music, for their income.

If the most popular rap artist begins to lose money from the sale of his or her music, it becomes difficult for all those involved in making that music, to be secure in their current occupation.

Some of the jobs created by artists in the music industry include:

- the artist’s manager
- the artist’s promoters
- the artist’s agents
- the artist’s band
- the sound check crew
- the record producers
- the publicists
- the journalists
- the art designers
- the journalists
- the art designers

These are just the ones that are involved in the day-to-day production of music.
There are others whose income depends on the artist’s ability to make money from the music they produce.

There are people who work in the radio stations where DJ’s play the artist’s music over the airways. There are people who work on websites to promote the artist’s music.

Sales of the artist’s work, affect even those who work in retail music stores. If music sales are down, retail stores need less people to sell that music.

There are other aspects, besides monetary, that illegally downloading music has an effect on. These are not visible, but just as important. These include the artists having doubts about their ability to sell their music to the people. This could discourage even the most talented in the music profession.

This type of problem caused by music piracy, affects music lovers and music makers alike.

People are starting to get their music digitally now instead of going out in stores and buying them. It’s alright to do that, but just like in stores, you also have to pay for the music that you wish to download in order for you to have obtain it legally. Most people don’t understand that you can actually get caught in illegally downloading music as it has happened numerous of times. There’s even a hefty fine if you’re guilty within the court system. Most people don’t understand the risks that they’re taking even when downloading just one song because of the viruses that are out on the web nowadays.

You can easily get viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, or some other malware on your computer via downloads. Limewire was a huge P2P sharing company that recently got shut down in October of 2010 because of the fact that they were illegally distributing music. Most people have already moved on to alternatives before they were caught because of the fact that they were notorious with spam and viruses. The safest place to download music is through iTunes or through the artist’s music store that some may have on their site.

Even downloading music illegally comes with the downside that the sound quality may be bad. There are times when you may not be able to hear the song as clearly then if you would’ve bought it. Some people disregard it, but if you plan on burning the song on a CD, it can really make the sound off a little. A CD usually has better sound quality than anything digital due to the bit rate. However, there are some MP3s that have better sound quality than the CD.

Corrupted files can be another issue. You may find some songs to have been mislabeled or they may not even work after you’ve downloaded the song. In order to be safe, just legally pay for it and download the song from a trusted online store such as iTunes.

If you spend any amount of time on the computer every day, then you can certainly appreciate the fact that those who spend time developing various systems and applications have got to have a lot of talent and expertise. Although there are many of us who would never even attempt to read a software book, there are those who get complete enjoyment from writing and developing software for the masses.

Being online all day long, whether it’s for work or play, leads you to a lot of places that ask you to do a software download to further engage the site. Knowing how to navigate through these places is very important so as to avoid computer viruses. You also want to avoid ending up on a site that is irrelevant or even offensive.

To be comfortable as you view, search and scroll the web looking for your topics of interest, you should always make it a point to read software reviews whenever they are available, especially if they are pertinent to you. Computer software changes at such an alarming rate that it’s very important to keep up with what’s going on in the industry and how those changes will affect you.

There are many sites that will give you reviews and opinions on software downloads in addition to sites where you can even purchase upgrades if you’re so inclined. Some of the reviews on the sites are from average, everyday people like yourself who just want information, and some of the reviews come from technology specialists and professionals who work directly with software development. While the consumer’s opinion is very important and should be considered before making a purchase, reviewing the opinions of professionals is also important because they have a direct connection with the technology and all of its newest developments.

Making the case for the prevention of pirating music is easy once you consider all the risks involved.

Aside from being illegal, music piracy is harmful to the music industry, and it hurts businesses and consumers as well.

One other thing downloading music illegally from other users on the Internet can do, is harm your computer.

If people who download music illegally are able to go undetected by those who are looking out for those engaging in music piracy, you may think you got away clean. That may not always be the case.

There are Internet users who find pleasure in spreading harmful viruses to other’s computers. One easy way for them to spread a virus to a number of users at once, is to attach that virus to a music download.

Unknowing participants in the practice of illegally sharing, uploading, and downloading music may be putting their computer at risk for viruses that range from minor annoyances to a complete wipe-out of their hard drives.

Those who attach computer viruses to downloads, intend to spread the virus from one computer to another. Since those who pirate music on the Internet are already breaking the law, they have no problem knowing that they are wreaking havoc to other users computers by attaching a virus to a file they are illegally sharing.

Those who download music illegally may believe their computers are safe from computer viruses because they have the latest and most recently updated anti-virus programs. Unfortunately, there are just as many computer viruses developed, as there are anti-virus programs, daily.

One anti-virus program or another can catch not every facet of computer viruses, and they may still damage your computer in some form.

Computer viruses attached to music downloads on sites illegally sharing files can:

• Corrupt or erase data on computers

• Spread to other computers connected to your computer at home

• Delete everything on your hard drive

• Spread to other computers at your workplace