Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Can I Really Download Internet Movies?

By Sean Hunter

By this point in the age of cyberspace, many people have learned how to download internet movies. Some do it through legitimate sites that have signed on with movie distribution sites. Some are nothing more than bootlegging sites. The sites that are on the level are usually charging for the right to download. Some legal sites don't charge per download, but they might have other fees or charges.

Some people are more tech savvy than others, so it may come as a surprise that anyone that has some knowledge of the internet can probably handle downloading videos. Many sites make it easy for you to go in, search for what you want, and then they will tell you how to download them.

The most widely used system to obtain this media these days is the peer to peer network, also known as P2P networks. If you are not familiar with this term, it is a blanket term for any network that connects over the internet directly to another person's computer. These are popular because instead of using a set server, each user becomes both a server and receiver, as the file that you are downloading can be uploaded simultaneously to other people who want to get the media.

The way that most sites work these days are to provide what are called "torrents." Torrents are small files that you can download very quickly from an internet site. You then open the torrent in a torrent reading program. The torrent will tell the program where to go to connect to the media that you want to download. The program will connect to that media and begin the upload/download process.

Some sites are working on ways to make deals with movie companies to sell movies via downloads. The digitalization of video is likely going to be a big market in the years to come. The problem is in maintaining the security of movies once they have been digitized. Once something exists in cyberspace it is virtually impossible to make sure that it won't continue to spread throughout the rest of the web.

Selling them online is probably going to be necessary as anyone with a computer with a DVD ripper can get it onto their computer. Once the movie is on the computer, it is very easy to get it online to start sharing it with others. People will offer these movies for free to try to get traffic to their websites in order to sell more advertising space and make money that way.

Due to the large spread use of these sites of pirated media, there is a push by government and para-government agencies to attempt to get internet service providers to stem their customers ability to download movies. They can't actually prevent a person from downloading, but they can shut off your internet if they detect you've been to certain sites. They may not report a person to an agency if they find out they've been doing something online they probably shouldn't have, but they do pay attention.

When you download internet movies you have to be careful. There are reputable sites out there that have content that is perfectly legal to download, sometimes even for free. But if you are worried about violating the law, make sure you trust the sites you are visiting.

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