Everybody, no exception, loves to get things for free. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to just look good. We all love a good bargain and something good for nothing is a really great deal.

When it comes to music or videos unless you get it directly from the owners hand free and clear, you need to pay for it or it is considered stealing. It isn’t that these artists don’t want to have their music in the hands of millions of people, it is that they have a whole bunch of people to pay.

Just think about all the work that they put in to give you songs and clips that you love to listen to. The studios charge them. Their publicists charge them, the recording companies charge them for creating every disc. Plus if they make a video, there’s the whole cast and crew to pay. Everyone from the guests, extras, director, producers, make up artists, etc, etc. Music is a multimillion currency business.

So who is giving away free music and videos? Usually independent artists who don’t have such a big production team. Those who are starting out are usually more inclined to share their work without charging since they need your support to get their music more popular. Anyone else be very careful.

Usually most people get hold of their free music by having their search engine simply look up “free music” or “free mp3″ . This will bring a great variety of sites up. Legal download sites will tell you that they get their material directly from the recording companies. They will give you previews but will charge for downloading.

If you end up on a site that allows you to download everything for free, especially tunes that you would normally have to pay a lot for, be wary. You are likely dealing with a pirate or you may have joined their band of scallywags.

Technorati Tags: download, free, music, video, piracy, copyright

Tags: downloading, Free-music, Piracy

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Videos

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Everybody wants to get a good bargain. As far as the general public is concerned, money for nothing is the best deal in town. Now don’t you go thinking it’s the neighbor living in the tiny one bedroom unit who wants things for free. Quite a number of celebrities and your multi millionaires go around snapping up all possible freebies they can. That’s one of the ways they stay rich after all.

Okay, so you probably go hunting for a good bargain site online as well. You might have stumbled on to a site that says they have the biggest music and video collection – over a million tracks. They will claim that you don’t need to pay anything; all items are free once you sign up. Hope your alarms are ringing at this point. When you try to check out the site, it keeps trying to get you to register, yet there are no free samples – not one. The scary part is they look absolutely legitimate.

These are almost definitely scam sites. They are very likely P2P sites, which turns you into a pirate (can you say RIAA?) and can get you sued. Second, it can be a site that tries to get your credit card details. Some sites will even have so called ratings from reputable sites such as cnet and CNN.

Before you give out any details, make sure to check out the site thoroughly. If you see the words P2P anywhere on their site, forget it. If they say that everything is free but ask you for a credit card or any other payment methods, dump the site!

Call their bluff. Visit the sites that they claim endorses them and look for the actual endorsement from these companies. You can rest assured that if they are for real, the article about them will be available and easily accessed at these sites.

Don’t be fooled. Take the time to investigate. Better yet, find a legal download source that is truly safe.

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Videos

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Some things are just so unique or so special, or in some cases simply because they were the first, that they become classics. For a few, well, maybe vintage is the better word since age is what has made them into classics. They are rarely seen anywhere else and very few stores have them available for rent or sale now.

The good news is, some of them are now available online. Just visit liketelevision.com and check out which of their collection you’d like to start with. They have a little bit of everything. They have some cartoons like Bettty Boop and the Adventures of Superman. There’s science fiction like One Step Beyond and Radar Men from the Moon. There are a few Alfred Hitchcock Presents, some of Andy Griffith’s Show and even a little Marilyn Monroe.

If you prefer to watch commercials, they have that too. You can watch the classic Coke commercials anytime. There are Alka Seltzer commercials too. Just browse through the library to see what other old ads you recall became part of their archives.

To access their library and download what you like, you’ll need to pay a monthly subscription. It will only cost you $14.95 a month. If you prefer to have a more long term subscription, you can pay $125 for a year’s access. You can watch the videos using real player.

The company behind LikeTelevision guarantees that the quality of all the videos are great. You can burn them to CD, VCD, or DVD as you prefer. They do inform though in the terms and conditions that some restrictions may apply and some titles you may want may be unavailable if you are not from the United States.

Categories: Downloading Legally, Videos

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Yoga seems to be one of the most popular activities these days. Arguably, it could actually be said that it is THE most popular past time in the world. From the United States to Asian cities, you can see people taking up yoga every single day. Taking up yoga is not that simple, though. After all, you’d need a teacher and take classes. More so, yoga is not always a cheap activity. In fact, some of the best schools can charge considerable fees.

What if I were to tell you that you can learn and practice yoga in the comforts of your own home without the hefty price tag? Indeed, technology is again making itself felt. You can download yoga classes from various web sites – some for free, some for a fee. I’d say that one of the best offers you can find online is at Yogaglo. This web site offers downloadable yoga classes for as low as $18 a month. It might still seem a little steep for some, but for unlimited download, it is really a good deal!

They currently have more than 350 yoga classes available online. Once you become a member, you can take your pick from these classes for the fee mentioned above. The videos can be played on a computer or TV.

You can still opt to search for cheaper or free yoga downloads – there really is no shortage. However, the advantage of Yogaglo is that they have built a pretty good reputation and they offer a much more structured set up.

Feel like jumping into the yoga bandwagon? Try “virtual” yoga.

Tags: exercise, fitness, Videos, yoga, Yogaglo

Categories: Downloading Legally, Videos

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You probably have heard about it by now. You might even have friends who have downloaded the video – if you have not already. Erin Andrew ring a bell?

ESPN reporter Erin Andrew is a familiar sight to many sports enthusiasts. And I am pretty sure that there is more than one guy out there who has had not so clean thoughts about her. After all, she is really attractive, isn’t she?

Anyway, a video of her had surfaced on the Internet. Yeah, a video of her walking around in a hotel room. In her birthday clothes. Naked. Nude.

Naturally, this video quickly spread, and people from all over the world have been downloading it. So why would I say don’t download it?

Lisa Bloom, legal analyst for CBS News says that downloading the video is actually illegal. Bloom says that “it’s like buying or selling stolen property. If you know you are buying something that was stolen… you could be liable criminally and civilly.”

One reason is that the video was taken without the consent of Erin Andrew, just as it was spread without her consent. In fact, the video was apparently taken through a peephole, which is in itself a crime.

While you might not be sued, arrested, or anything like that for downloading the video, you just never know what might happen. More so, you might get a different kind of surprise – like a Trojan or some other malware that can bring you more trouble than it’s worth.

Categories: Videos

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YouTube has risen to the top of streaming video; this and the fact that anyone can make a video and publish it on YouTube. I am sure there are so many other reasons for YouTube’s success but I am sure that one of them is because people do NOT have to pay to use the service.

But what of this piece of news that has been making people go “really?” I heard from so many people from different places that YouTube is NOT going to be free anymore. YouTube is going to be a paid service. Oh no, it’s the end of the world!

Of course, the untrusting person in me just would not take these people’s words for the truth – I had to look it up myself and voila, I was right. They were all overreacting.

There is indeed truth to the news that YouTube will have a paid service but this is not the entirety. In fact, YouTube is currently only TESTING the paid service. The idea is for users to be able to download content in high resolution MP4 format for a fee. Part of this fee will go to the creator of the video. And since YouTube is part of Google now, you can pay for the downloads through Google Checkout.

Again, take note that this does NOT mean that you cannot watch videos for free anymore. It just means that if you want a copy for yourself, you have to pay for it. Fair enough, don’t you think?

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Paid Service, Site News, Videos

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I hadn’t realized just how busy I had become until I heard people talking about watching the latest TV series the night before. Although I was – and am – aware of the shows that many people are talking about, I noticed one big difference. They watched the shows on primetime television while I watched them during the weekend.

All I can say is thank goodness for being able to download TV series. I may be an episode or two behind – I may even be a season behind! – but at least, I can still fit some TV in my crazy schedule.

Speaking of downloading TV shows, have you heard? NBC Direct has been relaunched. For those who are unsure as to what I am talking about, NBC Direct is the video download service of the station of the same name. This service has actually been around for years but has not really taken off due to one issue or another. Perhaps there are just other better services out there.

This time around, though, it seems that NBC has placed a lot of effort into the relaunch – the third, if I am not mistaken – of NBC Direct and it just might take off. The Download Squad cites two main reasons why this is so:

1. You can watch videos while you’re not connected to the internet
2. Videos are available in high definition

Indeed, being to watch videos offline after you have downloaded them is one of the most important things to many viewers. More so, with all the emphasis placed on high def, being able to watch shows in high def for free just tops all other services. Visit NBC Direct here.

Categories: Downloading Legally, TV Shows, Videos

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The site is hailed as one of the fastest growing legal download sites on the internet to date which charges minimal fees. Imagine $35.00 for unlimited access to all the songs, TV shows and Movies of your choice through partnerships with media giants such as MSN Music, Napster, Yahoo Music, Real Rhapsody and Wal-Mart. The total amount of downloadable content is at 12 million and they continuously add to their inventory each day. The membership gives you access to the largest online collection of music, movies games and utilities all free for you to choose and get onto your desktop. The fee mostly goes to the maintenance and operations of the web site and the massive internet library collection. You get a free software which you can use to burn cd’s that you can play on your car stereo. There is also access for easy to follow guides or if your problems don’t end there, you can get in tough with live agents who are there all the time to answer all your questions and requests. They have a 30-day money back guarantee on their subscription.
There are many legal download sites available on the internet to date and these are taking over the previously dark area of P2P download sites. Problems associated with malware and other bugs that tend to wreak havoc from P2P sites have dissuaded many from them who have turned to legal music sites such as these. MyMusicInc, for some of the fastest and best paid legal downloads on the market and in the world.

Tags: DRM_Free_Music, Free_MP3_Music_Downloads, Free_Music_Downloads, Free_Music_for_your_Ipod

Categories: Downloading Legally, Music, Paid Service, Providers, Videos

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One of the pioneers of the music file sharing business, they have been persecuted, shut down and mimicked by many and idolized by the myriad of music file sharing sites that have popped up during their brief legal wrangling, but guess what, they’re back! Napster is one of the very first sites where people got free MP3’s and other audio files free and fast during the hay days of the digital music revolution. They have gone legal with memberships and other legalities but they still have free downloads for the first few songs you do get from them. They have re-worked their looks and have begun to comply with the many laws and statutes they have been subjected to and they are still one of the heroes of the digital music world when it came to MP3’s. With offerings for free web music access and their new and ever popular Napster Mobile, they have continued to revolutionize the music file sharing industry. They even offer discounts for military personnel in hopes of doing their part for the war effort overseas where music is one of the few luxuries people in the military can share and enjoy whatever the battle scenario may be.
They have also added support to the many digital multimedia players that are now common stay in every household and carry several versions of songs encoded in the formats they support. They also have functionality for mobile phones through Napster Mobile where music in all formats that are supported by phone manufacturers are offered for download. They have added a new and revised legal terms of use of their web site and the music they share emphasizing on the point that music you get from them is only for personal use, after that you’re on your own in the legalities of all the stuff you get. Most music sites (even the most reputable and publicized ones) have inclusions that though you have obtained music legally thought their web sites, the way and manner in which you use these tracks are covered by laws that prohibits use for anything other than personal entertainment.
Registration is necessary and there is a free music library along with a streaming music system they offer to subscribers and members but the free stuff is mostly offered to clients and users in the US only. Most of their permanent download files come with DRM included in the encoding of the files that allows a maximum of use for up to 3 computers only. There is also a clause which states that transfers from the parent device (the one you used to get the music with) along a maximum of two other computers are allowed. Three multimedia devices can safely be loaded with the music that has been purchased though there is not much indication of how they manage the DRM software and the way it works if you happen to have exceeded the copy restrictions.
In order to control Piracy, they have restricted their services to the US and territories cutting off many of their previous followers from around the globe. The licensing terms restricts them to the said area preventing further clashes with legalities that had hounded them in the past.

Tags: Legal Download Sites, Napster, Paid-Legal-Downloads, Streaming Videos and Music

Categories: Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, Providers, Videos, ipods

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For border security has benn granted the right to inspeact and check for the authenticity of all your digital files whether they be on your iPod or your laptop according to proposed border laws. Canada is beginning preparations into turning their borders not only to screen for illegal entrants to their respective countries but also as copyright checkpoints according to Yahoo Tech and many people are getting jittery of having border guards asking for all gadgets and gizmos to check for pirated content. The rules of engagement so to speak are still quite muddy but indications say that they have been authorized to destroy hardware should it be necessary if it is found to contain pirated stuff.
The move is quite unsettling for there is still no universal way of telling whether a digital file is authentic or not and that there have still been no published guidelines on how the searches are going to be made. Imagine a laptop that has hundreds if not thousands of audio files, how the hell can they check all those files for legality? The move is part of the aliance between the United States and the EU that resulted in the ACTA agreement. ACTA stands for Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which grants border authorities to question the legality of digital files on any digital device. May it be a thumb drive, a cellular phone, iPod or laptop, border guards are to be granted the authority to request for them and do searches using a set of methods (which should be quick by the way or travellers might mutiny due to delays affecting tourism and trade). You don’t only run the risk of loosing your precious iPod you take anywhere you can even be fined. Canada is now currently doing random searches of laptops for pornographic materials and the new law/s should they be approved would expand their searching abilities a set further (by a mile).
Further deliberations on the necessary rules and regualtions of the said law is to be debated on the next G8 meeting where the proposed law is to be laid out, diced and spiced hopefully with the protection of privacy in mind for the travelling public.

Tags: ACTA, Anti-Piracy Laws, Canadian Border Checks, Piracy

Categories: DVD Videos, Downloading Legally, Mobile Phones, Music, Videos, ipods

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