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Downloading movies can be illegal, but there are ways to avoid downloading bootleg movies and staying on the right side of the law while still enjoying online movie downloads.

Most people believe that the only way to download movies is to use file sharing software, or peer to peer (P2P) download sites. That is not actually true, although in saying that it should be stressed that these sites are not illegal themselves: it is the way that they are used that is illegal. Let’s check out the reasons why this is true.

How P2P File Sharing Works

Most P2P sites are membership sites that involve paying a lifetime or annual membership fee. There are few doubts that the lifetime membership is best, because once that is paid that’s it. I once joined a site with an annual fee, and this year my software stopped working. They told me I hadn’t paid the fee – how am I supposed to remember? I had changed my credit card and couldn’t remember every annual payment in order to warn them. I shouldn’t have to – they should remind me. Life memberships avoid that sort of thing.

So, you are now a member. You fire up the software and you find a few boxes requesting details such as ‘Music’ or ‘Movies’, and then ‘Artist’ or ‘Title’ or ‘Genre’. You fill in one of these – just one is fine – and click ‘Search’. You then get a list of various versions of the title or the movies or music involving the artist or actor you entered for the search. Click on any one and it will start to download.

How does that work?

What happens is that you get connected to the computer of other members that are online, and can download the music, movies or games that are on their hard disk. If they have the title you are seeking, that will take part in the download, and you could be downloading packets from a number of different members online: the more online with what you are wanting, the quicker the download.

Others can also access your hard disk to download any files that they are looking for. Now, can see how some of this can be illegal?

How P2P File Sharing Can Be Illegal

If somebody has a track or a movie stored on their hard disk that is protected by copyright, it is illegal for you to download it to your hard disk. Even if they have purchased the track, you cannot legally copy it. Most good P2P software will inform you that the track or movie is not licensed for download, but it won’t stop you downloading it. That choice is yours. If you continue, you are breaking the law. However, there are ways in which you can download movies legally.

Legal Movie Downloads

If a new movie maker wants to get his or her name known, they might offer their work for free online download. That means it is not illegal because it is not protected by copyright. Some actually do this. Also, if the movie is so old that it is in the public domain, then you can also download it legally. You can find a list of such movies online with a simple search.

That is how to legally download movies through peer to peer file sharing services. However, there is also another way. There sites online that have stocks of movies that are licensed for download: the license has been paid for and they can sell these downloads. They are also membership sites, but the downloads 100% legal.

So there are two ways of legally downloading movies, and how you can avoid downloading bootleg movies with the danger of prosecution. You could, of course, still accept the risk and download copyrighted movies, since very few are caught and prosecuted, but I wouldn’t recommend that you do that.

The same software that is used for illegal downloads is also used for the legal downloads, except for the huge video banks that offer the legal downloads as described above. How you use that software is up to you, but I recommend on all of my sites that you keep within the law – that, after all, is the best way, even though it doesn’t offer you the best online movie downloads.

Since iTunes store tops the music retailer in the world, the following tutorial focuses on how to convert purchased iTunes M4P music to MP3, WAV or unprotected WMA so as to import it to Windows Movie Maker project as background music. The tutorial is composed of the following three parts:

Part 1. Something about Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is a totally free program that comes with Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional, and Windows Vista. Below are the audio/video formats accepted by Windows Movie Maker:

Video files: .asf, .avi, .wmv

Movie files: MPEG1, .mpeg, .mpg, .mlv, .mp2

Audio files: .wav, .snd, .au, .aif, .aifc, .aiff

Windows media files: .asf, .wm, .wma, .wmv

MP3 format audio: .mp3



Part 2. Remove DRM from iTunes M4P music

The songs you purchased from iTunes store are under DRM protection. You cannot directly import them to your Windows Movie Maker project. However you can burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make an audio CD and then use some CD ripper software to convert the audio CD track back to MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. And iTunes allows you to burn the protected music files to CD-R or CD-RW disc to make a standard audio CD:

1. Insert a CD-R or CD-RW disc into your CD-ROM drive. You’d better use CD-RW disc as it can be used for more than once.

2. Burn your playlist to make an audio CD. You cannot select the MP3 CD option since it requires the protected music files be converted to unprotected MP3 files.

3. After the audio CD is successfully burned, insert the disc into your CD-ROM drive again. Then you can use iTunes to import the music tracks on the burned disc to MP3 files.

The steps are very simple indeed. Yet, I’d like to introduce a practical application called TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter. It applies the virtual CD burning technology so that there is no need to use real disc. You can use it to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. This is a useful tool for anyone looking to break their relationship with the iPod. The best part is that it maintains all of the music file’s metadata. You can learn how to remove DRM from iTunes M4P music with TuneClone M4P to MP3 Converter from this guide.



Part 3. Add the output DRM-free music to Windows Movie Maker

After you get the output DRM-free music by adopting either the disc burning/ripping method or virtual CD burning method discussed in Part 2, now you can begin to import it into your Windows Movie Maker project.

Click on File. Then click on Import. A window will appear. In the window, navigate to the sound or music file you want to add to your movie. Then double click on the file. You’ll see the icon for the file in your Windows Movie Maker “collections”. Click on the icon and drag it on to the timeline to the part of the video you want the sound or music to play.

It is possible to download free online movies legally, with or without p2p file sharing software. It is not the peer to peer networks that are illegal but the way they are used, and it unfair to blame the tool and not the user.

It is not only downloading free online movies that we are discussing here, but also so-called free music downloads and video game downloads. Here we shall not only be looking at P2P software services and how they are used illegally and the ethics of free online music and movie file sharing, but also how to download movies and music legally.

A. P2P File Sharing Software

Peer to peer file sharing software allows users to connect to specific file formats on the hard drives of other members of the P2P network that are connected to the network at the same time. You can use one of the free open source P2P file sharing networks such as Gnutella directly, though most prefer to do so through a paid membership system that offers some benefits over the raw option, including accelerated music and free movie downloading speeds, enhanced file storage and retrieval, more reliable downloads, absence of dangerous malware, such as adware and spyware, and connection to more sources.

To locate a free movie, music track or game to download, you simply enter the name of the movie, track, artist or even genre and you will receive a list of what is currently available on the network, the quality of the reproduction, the file format, and how many sources are currently available online from which to download. The more sources for each track or movie the better. Click on your choice, choose the destination folder and the download starts. It is very easy to use.

You will download free online movies simultaneously from all sources (hard disks or other storage devices) offering your choice of free movie download (or music track or free game). The more there are then generally the shorter the download time.

B. Download Free Online Movies Legally

Free movie downloads (or music or video game downloads) are legal if the movies or entertainment files are not copyrighted. There are many public domain and non-copyrighted files available online that you can find using a simple internet search using your favorite search engine. You can legally download as many such online movies or music tracks as want.

Many new movie-makers that want their work publicized sometimes offer their work copyright-free, as do many people who make home movies. The same is true of new bands and singers that want to build up a fan base before releasing their work commercially, or that want to advertise a new album by offering free music tracks from it. Others might release a beta version of a new game on a P2P file sharing network to get any bugs sorted and also a sense of how well received the idea or concept of the game might be.

In other words, free legal movie downloads, free online music downloads and legal free online games provide a benefit for both the originators and the users of such free entertainment files. The problem lies in the illegal downloading of copyrighted work.

C. Illegal P2P File Sharing

Peer to peer file sharing becomes illegal when the files being shared are under copyright. This applies to all current chart hits and online movie blockbusters, new games and most commercial software that is not open source or in the public domain. Most work produced over the past 50 years is liable to be copyright protected, although much of it is also copyright-free, and can be downloaded. A good rule of thumb is if you are unsure, and then don’t download it. Unfortunately most people download free online movies illegally.

A good membership P2P file sharing network should inform you if you are attempting to download free online movies or music that requires a license to download – another advantage of using a paid peer to peer network. It is unfair to condemn the software or the P2P network because of its misuse – the software is not illegal and neither is its use: it is the way that most people use it that is illegal. But should it be?

D The Ethics of P2P File Sharing and Illegal and Legal Movie Downloads

Who are movie and pop stars who openly use drugs, trash hotels and blatantly and publicly break other laws and get away with it to complain when kids break the law by copying one of their tracks or movies? The movie and music industry would be better spending their time putting their own house in order than chasing high school kids and fining their moms for downloading free movies or music tracks.

However, although that is my opinion, there are circumstances where those that download free online movies illegally can damage the entertainment industry. It is the professional movie, music and video game pirates that use P2P file sharing software to download entertainment files and copy them to portable storage devices such as CDs and DVDs by the hundreds of thousands for sale that are causing the real problem, and it is they that should be vigorously pursued, not the kids.

A major problem with this is that a large number of these pros are Asian, and it is not possible to prosecute these people in their own countries. So where does that leave us? Is it ethical to prosecute and give massive fines to people breaching copyright using P2P networks while being unable to touch those causing most of the damage? Is it right to fine a kid for copying a track from an album, who then goes on to purchase that album or even to buy a ticket for the live concert because they liked what they heard or saw?

Many of the whingers owe part of their success to illegal music downloads, because it was partially through these that they came into public prominence. The ethics of P2P free movie downloads and illegal music downloads are not as clear-cut and unarguable as those mooting them might have us believe, although we are not yet in a situation where anything other than legal movie downloads and paid music file sharing can be justified.

P2P file sharing networks are not all bad, however, and in a free world should never be made illegal – only used properly and intelligently by artistes, designers and the public alike. One day we will be able to legally download free online movies and music that has been specifically produced for promotional and testing purposes, and this shall become a common marketing and testing technique for new film and music genres, and new video game ideas.