| With the advent of high-speed Internet | | | | There's also the danger of malicious programs |
| connections being available to most any home, | | | | being included with whatever's downloaded. |
| the problem of movies and albums being pirated | | | | Remember, video pirates are already breaking the |
| online has grown. There are many sites that offer | | | | law and, apparently, have no hang-ups about |
| pirated movies and it's a common enough | | | | cheating people out of being paid for their work. |
| argument that paying for a subscription service | | | | How much do you think they care about your |
| such as cable television isn't worth it if the films | | | | computer? If you start visiting these sites, expect |
| can be obtained for free. This argument, | | | | an awful lot of virus warnings, at the least, and |
| however, really doesn't hold water. | | | | legal trouble in some cases. Pirating movies on line |
| The quality of the films pirated on line is almost | | | | is, in fact, breaking the law. If you find yourself |
| always far below the quality provided by even a | | | | using justifications such as "a little bit illegal", ask a |
| regular, non High Definition, cable broadcast. If you | | | | lawyer if anything is "slightly illegal". It's illegal or it |
| decide to waste your time downloading one of | | | | isn't and piracy is most definitely illegal. |
| these, expect lousy audio, a picture that | | | | If you have satellite television, you're already |
| alternates from fuzzy to incomprehensible and, | | | | saving enough on movies that piracy is really not |
| quite often, complete uselessness. Many of the | | | | worth it, anyway. Movies on demand allow you to |
| copies simply don't work or don't represent full | | | | see whatever's out in the movie stores, not |
| recordings of the film in question. | | | | whatever's currently on a movie channel. High |
| On the subject of recording: Some of the | | | | definition broadcasts are the absolute pinnacle of |
| recording methods used are almost laughable. One | | | | quality and you're guaranteed a "good copy" |
| common method is to sneak a video camera into | | | | every single time. |
| a theater and record the movie. The quality, of | | | | What attracts people to pirating movies and other |
| course, is atrocious. Expect to be listening to the | | | | media online is the idea that they're getting |
| crowd more than the film-the film audio will sound | | | | something valuable for no cost. This is a natural |
| like it was recorded in a can, as well-and expect | | | | human impulse and is similar to the desire to |
| the picture to jump, go out of frame and have an | | | | maximize the return on any investment. Where |
| appearance similar to watching a movie while | | | | Internet piracy is concerned, however, the old |
| wearing dirty glasses. The recording quality for | | | | axiom about low cost goods truly applies: You get |
| those that are "ripped" is most often not full HD | | | | what you pay for. Considering that the practice is |
| and playing them on a modern set won't even | | | | illegal, you may just well get more than you |
| approach the experience of watching them | | | | bargained for, as well. With affordable subscription |
| legitimately. | | | | options from satellite TV, there's really no need. |