Do you download your music for free?

If your answer is yes, you may be committing a federal crime.  The government views the downloading of copyrighted music, movies, and software without explicit rights to do so as theft and is punishable by hefty fines and the possibility of prison.  The improper use of peer-to-peer networks like Gnutella, BitTorrent, Limeware, etc. have opened the door to theft of copyrighted material. 

There are alternatives to illegal downloading, which can be found below. For more information on on the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998, which is the most recent copyright legislation passed, please visit http://www.gsc.edu/infosec/ and click “Legal Resources” to the left of the page.  Another good resource is http://www.musicunited.org/.  Remember, obtaining your music legitimately will keep you out of court and help the artists continue to provide you with quality music, movies, and software.

DISCLAIMER: Gainesville State College assumes no responsiblity for the content of third party websites linked from this page. The user visits these sites at his/her own risk.