I’m a big documentary fan. I love the fact that in watching this genre, you not only get entertained, you also learn something new. You won’t believe this, but I’ve been hooked on docus since I was six years old. There was this old TV channel that used to show different types of nature shows and science documentaries during the weekends and at weekday afternoons. I religiously watched these shows and I could probably trace my love for astronomy and physics from watching them.

Now that I’m a father to a precocious four-year-old boy, I am trying to share with him my love for documentaries. Unfortunately, aside from expensive DVD purchases, the only other way I can get documentaries are from torrent sites. The choices are quite extensive, unfortunately, I still have not find a site that offers free legal downloads of documentaries.

I hope that some enterprising bloke will see what a great service it would be to mankind if they provide documentaries for free as a way of firing up the imaginations of children all over the world.

Tags: documentaries, legal, science

Categories: Downloading Legally, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

Downloading is so much fun, isn’t it? The fun stops, though, when you suddenly get hit by a worm or a Trojan – then the trouble begins. And this is exactly what happened to the thousands and thousands of people who downloaded the pirated version of iWork last week. I am sure that you heard about that not so little brouhaha. Download.com has the story:

Internet security firm Intego said on Thursday that it has discovered a new Trojan horse in pirated copies of Apple’s iWork ’09 productivity software that could allow an attacker to take control of the infected computer.

As of early Thursday, at least 20,000 people shad downloaded the iWork ’09 installer, according to Intego.

That is the not the end of the story, though. There is another type of malware that has been going around targeting Macs. And people have NOT learned. About 5,000 downloads so far.

Moral of the story? Do not download pirated software. It is as simple as that. And if you still want to, then take the risk.

Tags: pirated software

Categories: Downloading Legally, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

This thought had not occurred to me before I read Ken Gallinger’s column answering a question from a reader. The question is basically the same as the title of this blog post. The reader says that he has a collection of tapes (who doesn’t?) and that he does not have the means to convert them to mp3 at the moment. Does this justify him downloading the songs off of the Internet? I assume that when he wrote downloading, he meant peer-to-peer, free, and illegal downloading.

So it is justifiable in a case like this?

According to Gallinger, the question is not of legality but of ethics. He writes:

What follows is a comment on the ethics of what you propose to do – not the legality. Canadian copyright laws are under review and the legality of particular P2P (peer-to-peer) operations depends on whom you talk to. Read Michael Geist’s article at thestar.com/ sciencetech/article/647038.

But, ethically, after much debate with people who know more about this than me, I’m prepared to render a verdict on your case.
So there’s nothing wrong (ethically, not technically) with P2P per se, unless it’s used for a nefarious activity. And you can’t steal what you already own.

It would be less controversial to buy the software, plug the old turntable into your computer and do the digital conversion yourself. But if you can’t, my opinion is that it’s okay to use P2P, so long as you just download songs you already own and don’t pass on the copies to anyone else.

I totally understand his “verdict,” and I do agree that it would be much less controversial and much less of a hassle to find some means to convert the tapes and LPs. What do you think?

Tags: cassettes, downloading, vinyl

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

Wait – isn’t that all wrong? Isn’t downloading the greener option? After all, when we download music, we cut back on CDs and other material things that put a strain on the environment, right?

As a matter of fact, this is what Jonathan G. Koomey, Christopher L. Weber, and H. Scott Matthews shared in a study they released some time ago. Their conclusion was this:

“…despite the increased energy and emissions associated with Internet data flows, purchasing music digitally reduces the energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with delivering music to customers by between 40 and 80 percent from the best-case physical CD delivery, depending on whether a customer then burns the files to CD or not. This reduction is due to the elimination of CDs, CD packaging, and the physical delivery of CDs to the household. Based on our assumptions, online delivery is clearly superior from an energy and CO2 perspective when compared to traditional CD distribution.”

And just like that, we have proven the title of this post to be incorrect. Or have we, really?

The authors were quick to point out that this entire scenario is not always applicable. They made assumptions; assumptions that are not always true. We have to take into consideration other factors such as end-user behavior (yes that’s us!).

What if you walk to the music store to buy CDs instead of driving? What if you had to buy blank CDs or DVDs to burn your downloaded files? What if you printed CD/DVD covers to print your downloaded album art? Taking these factors into consideration, you might not be helping the environment all that much if you downloaded music rather than bought them at the store.

Bottom line: you have to consider ALL players of the game before you go around declaring that by downloading, you are helping the earth. Oh, and there is that issue of where and how you download you content. That’s another story altogether, isn’t it?

Tags: downloading, environment, Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

In the past year, downloading music off of the Internet illegally has continued to be at the forefront of technology-related issues. It is not a bit surprising as songs and albums continue to abound online, and a lot of people will not stop downloading as long as there is something to get. It seems to me that the music execs and government watchdogs have been running around in circles trying to solve this problem.

Jamie Cullum, a jazz-pop sensation from the UK shares the same sentiments. In a recent interview, he admitted to downloading music illegally. He said that he would oftentimes use P2P sharing when he cannot immediately get his hands on an album. He added, though, that he would still buy the album when it came out, or when he found it.

While the idea of illegal downloading doesn’t sit well with me, I understand his point of view. There are times when you just want to listen to the music and release dates and other matters like that make it impossible to do so immediately. That’s when P2P comes in handy. And it’s not like you are taking revenue away from the musicians and the record labels – not if you buy the album anyway, right?

The problem is that not everyone will do this. Many people would probably stop at downloading illegally and not obtain the album legally afterwards. Jamie Cullum thinks that the solution is to come up with services “so sophisticated and so comprehensive that people don’t need to download stuff¬ for free.”

I agree. Now how do we do that?

Tags: illegal downloading, Jamie Cullum, P2P

Categories: Music, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

If you live in France, or if you have the dough to travel all the way over there, make it a point to be at the Arc de triomphe du Carrousel near the Louvre on March 28 –two days from now! This day is going to go down in the history books as Download Day.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why it is called such. This event has been organized to protest a new law in the country. Obviously, the law is all about NOT downloading illegally. It threatens – and strongly – to “cut off” those who are caught downloading media illegally. This law is being put to vote in the National Assembly right now.

The organizers behind Download Day are encouraging people to participate by coming to one of the four locations in France. If you do plan on going, you should bring along:

Rare work such as a hard-to-find film or piece of music “that they want to keep in the public memory” and other pieces available through a creative commons licence.

The files can be brought on CD, DVD, or usb stick and will be uploaded on to peer-to-peer file exchange sites.

Other cities included in the event are Marseille, Toulouse, and Lyon. For more information, you can also visit the web site and the Twitter link. Everything is in French, however, so you might need a translator to do the work for you.

Last thoughts – this blog is all about LEGAL downloading, true. Still, I cannot overlook such an activity as this. It’s worth taking note of, right?

Categories: Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

As if there were not enough deterrents for many people to download legally over the Internet! Now I hear talk of actually taxing people over downloads! This is coming from the governor of New York, David Paterson. His spokesman has released statements to the effect that the governor’s proposal would entail applying four percent tax on any download. This means that if the proposal is approved, New Yorkers can expect to pay four percent tax on anything ranging from music, books, software, and video.

Obviously, I am not in agreement with this kind of proposal. We already know how a large number of people are avoiding having to pay for downloads by doing so through illegal means. Imposing a levy on legal downloads would only add to the financial burden of those who are already in a bad way.

So what is the rationale behind this proposal? New York is not the only state that is facing a deficit in budget. The governor’s office is looking to the four percent download tax as a possible means of lessening that deficit. While the tax may not totally get rid of the deficit, it just might close the gap.

However, the business sector is saying that this move might not work out as planned. Some people are saying that the hardest hit area would probably be pornographic downloads. This would in turn, result in businesses moving away from New York.

Business sense aside, all I am saying is that New Yorkers will not be very happy with having to pay four percent on anything they download.

Categories: Downloading Legally, Random Thoughts, Site News

Leave a Comment

As more and more people seek to get their hands on free music, more control has been put in place due to the huge amount of profits lost due to piracy. The problem is global and has become one of the most debated issues of today’s technology circles. Though most technology used in the piracy trade has roots in consumer electronics, they are always surely derived from some form of computer piracy which is used to obtain them from their sources. From illegal file sharing like P2P sites to illegally copied DVD’s and CD’s, they are all result of the utter failure of DRM software which was used to control them in the past.
They were either too obtrusive (denying full enjoyment of the product through huge overhead requirements) or too wasteful of resources (computer memory and processor power that nothing else can be done). The other side is that people always want a sense of control over their world as with hackers (who own and operate P2P sites and promote piracy all over the world) void of the constraints of laws and technology. It seems as if the battle for control between business and personal wants would always necessitate the cat and mouse game between people who want it and people who want to earn from it (music and video).
Proponents of free everything over the internet have been finding it harder and harder to share and copy files over the internet due to new and stiffer penalties imposed on those who are caught doing so. The new and improved anti-piracy laws carry stiff penalties and users risk even getting their internet service cut-off by providers should they be found and caught repetitively doing so. The next arena where conflict would arise would be the fact that the new search and discovery laws are indeed invasive for law enforcement are allowed to seize and conduct search on all if not most of suspected devices that may hold pirated materials. Proposals that would allow law enforcement to search wireless enabled devices without you even knowing about it is alarming for along with any possible pirated stuff, all the contents of your gadgets and gizmos can be copied along with it. There is a thin line between search/discovery and privacy that it is heavily debated over and over again to ensure that all basis are covered.
Any flaws in laws are quickly discovered and overcome by piracy advocates to allow them to continue with their illegal activities. Hopefully, stiffer laws and higher penalties would dissuade piracy allowing better control over media where DRM has utterly failed. Some media firms have even resorted to handing out free tracks and other freebies to get more to buy the legal stuff and they have also lowered subscription rates to online services allowing as low as $0.50 cents. Many other marketing strategies have been taken to dissuade and turn previously illegal users to turn legal but there are still millions of illegal users who use illegal songs downloaded from web sites and other sources. In my country, a trip to some malls can have you loaded with tons of illegally copied cds and dvds for a fraction of the cost of the originals even with regular police action.

Categories: Freeware, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment

The RIAA is conducting its investigations on illegal music downloads just like the Salem witch trials. Paranoia and a McCarthyist attitude are being propagated by the organization. It has come to a point that college networks are relentlessly monitored by the RIAA in order to choose which unsuspecting college students to victimize next.

It’s a little known fact that colleges are getting involved in this operation without them wanting to. They also expend resources and manpower just to make sure that the subjects of the lawsuits are truly the ones guilty.

But they’ve had enough.

More and more colleges are now refusing to help the RIAA for a job that they are not compensated on. The common consensus is that their energies are better spent on actually taking care of their students rather than helping a dinosaur organization.

Tags: RIAA, US colleges

Categories: Downloading Legally, Random Thoughts

Leave a Comment