The internet is vast and you can find pretty much everything here, good as well as bad. However, since most of the issues relating to the usage of the internet are relatively new, most people are in the dark regarding these.
The entire content found on the internet isn’t legal and in some cases, can even land you behind bars for merely viewing it. Here’s your guide to legally viewing content on the internet.
#1. Watching Movies
Downloading (https://askopinion.com/how-to-download-videos-off-the-internet) or streaming movies or television shows can be legal as well as illegal, depending on the source. Many websites on the internet allow users to view unauthorized videos, but it is illegal to host such videos. That is why websites like The Pirate Bay, among the most notorious websites offering unauthorized videos for download, have been blocked in a number of countries.
The law is slightly more complicated when dealing with individual users simply viewing unauthorized content instead of copying or downloading it; however, the best option is to avoid websites that are operating with unauthorized content. There are several websites that allow you to legally view video content, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV, but almost all of these charge a subscription fee.
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#2. Downloading Music
Increasing number of people these days stream their favorite music on the internet. A few years back, downloading was the norm and around 95 percent music downloaded from the internet was done so illegally. While people are still downloading music illegally, the practice has dramatically plummeted. There are plenty different legal ways for you to enjoy your favorite music on the internet. These include websites like Spotify, YouTube (https://askopinion.com/how-to-download-music-from-youtube), Amazon Prime and more.
There are also several portals that allow music lovers to download their favorite songs without any legal hassles. Amazon and Last.fm are among the two great means of legally downloading songs.
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#3. Using VPN
VPNs for virtual private networks have become common these days. Using this technique, a group of users creates a private network to enjoy access to shared data. The range of free and paid-for VPN options available on the internet include TorVPN, Private Internet Access and WiTopia. Though their general use is not illegal, viewing unauthorized content through these is.
Therefore, viewing child pornography and posting or downloading copyrighted content is still illegal even if you use a VPN. Several VPN service offering portals also have in their terms and conditions that they will cooperate with the authorities if ever an investigation is launched by them. Therefore, even using VPN can land you into trouble.
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#4. Copying Content
The internet is a pool of data much of which is copyrighted content and copying it could be illegal. While it is not illegal for a student to use copyrighted content for educational use, using it for profit without permission is considered a criminal offense. This applies to all sorts of data on the internet, including film, photography, music as well as text. Therefore, think twice the next time you take a random Google search image for your work.
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#6. Sharing And Viewing Explicit Images
Distributing a sexual image of someone who is under the age of 18 is a crime. If you have received a sexual content of any sorts featuring someone who is a minor and you keep it, then again you could face criminal charges. There are also some laws protecting people who are adult as well. Procuring content by hacking or using such content to threaten or coerce someone. In early 2015, a law also made sharing someone’s sexual images on the internet without their consent in order to cause distress illegal.
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#7. Hacking
Forwarding a virus in order to gain access to someone’ private information and hacking into their system by other means is illegal as per Computer Misuse Act. If you cannot resist the urge to post a funny image through someone else’s account, then you could get into legal hassles as misusing someone’s sensitive information like sexual orientation, religion, and political views was made illegal in 2008.
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So, now you can stay away for indulging in any illegal activity on the internet. Share your thoughts about the topic through comments below.
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