|
Dayton
Business Journal...
Watching free online
movies can be costly
Monday, March 21, 2011
That free online movie you downloaded last weekend could cost you a
quarter of a million dollars.
The Dayton Better Business Bureau put out a warning Monday against
downloading online movies from multiple Web sites.
Movie sites including letmewatchthis.com, letbobwatchthis.com and
movie-source.org are luring people into copyright infringement traps,
according to researchers from cloud security provider, Zscaler.
Sites like these house hundreds of pirated movies and by downloading
them onto your computer, you’re committing copyright infringement, the
BBB said.
“People need to know the consequences of using such sites,” said John
North, BBB president and CEO. “It’s ultimately their responsibility to
ensure files they’re downloading and sharing are legal copies.”
According to the United States Copyright Office, an individual who
uploads or downloads online movies that are protected by copyright law
without the authority of the copyright owner can be subjected to
copyright infringement violations. These cases can be considered liable
for statutory damages up to $30,000 for each work infringed.
Some of the largest entertainment companies include Walt Disney Co.
(NYSE: DIS), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), News Corp. (NYSE: Nasdaq:
NWSA) and Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE).
If infringement is found to be willful, that amount can be increased up
to $150,000 for each work infringed. In addition, according to the U.S.
Department of Justice, the government also can criminally prosecute for
copyright infringement. Fines up to $250,000 and/or a five-year prison
sentence can result.
To avoid such risks, the group recommends the following:
• Purchase all copyrighted works online using a service authorized to
sell copyrighted pieces;
• When evaluating services to decide if they provide legal music and
movie files, look for statements that say they’ve obtained the
copyright permission of the artists or companies representing the
artists;
• Seek legal alternatives by checking The Recording Industry
Association of America and Motion Picture Association of America, which
provide lists of some of the more popular legal online media sources,
including iTunes and YouTube; and
• Be careful when downloading illegal digital files, which place your
computer at high risk of receiving viruses.
Read it with links at Dayton Business Journal
|
|
|
|
