Legal Aspects

One of the most controversial aspects of the Internet has been the growth of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing systems, which allow users to share files, including songs, movies and software with others.

Some file sharing systems are:

• Kazaa
• LimeWire
• Bit Torrent
• eMule

Record companies, movie producers and software vendors claim that file sharing deprives both companies and artists of income and future productions, but many users claim that it gives them access to materials they would otherwise be unable to afford.

Many of the files found on file-sharing services are copyright and should not be uploaded or downloaded without the consent of the author or copyright holders.

High-street cybercafe company easyinternetcafe was fined for allowing users to download music files and burn them onto CD.

Why you should avoid P2P

Reasons you should avoid P2P are:

• Downloaded files often turn out to contain a virus or have spyware
• Downloaded files may be faulty and do not operate as they are meant to
• Downloaded software may not be able to obtain support from the software vendor when they require it.

There are a number of legal download services, some of these are:

• Apple's Itunes
• mp3.com
• ayepod.net
• music.download.com

Some of these sites are free, but you have to pay for some of them. A site that is free is BBC iPlayer it lets you access television programmes via your PC and you can listen to the radio and live streaming.