Why You Must Obey Movie Copyright Laws In The Digital Age

Author: Richard Cunningham
Many people have pursued the hobby of downloading movies and songs on the Internet and sharing them with their friends and family online. However, this is direct violation of U.S. copyright laws. Not surprisingly, the biggest violators of the movie copyright laws are students. The movie industry is sending out copyright infringement claims to college universities around the country. One reason that college students may be the hardest hit is that they are not aware of how serious a crime copyright infringement is.

Many college students who have lawsuits brought against them are shocked, to say the least. They question why they were not warned about the perils of downloading movies and songs online and passing them along to friends. However, with the rise of claims, no one can claim ignorance for much longer. Word is being spread near and far that if you engage in illegal downloading and/or sharing, then you can be brought to court. College students are learning the hard way that it is against the law and in violation of copyright laws to share or download copyrighted material. Many colleges and universities now state in their handbooks that it is against the law to illegally download movies, music and other forms of media using school computers.

In addition to illegal downloading and sharing movies, the files take up space on the computer systems and use a considerable amount of bandwidth. While most universities and colleges will not look at the content an individual has -- they can isolate and identify the individuals who are hogging up bandwidth by using illegal file sharing.

The movie and music industries have stepped in and are demanding restitution for illegally downloaded movies, music and other forms of copyrighted media. They have detection agencies that have the technology to identify and trace copyright infringements straight to their source. Once the computer is located they can notify the university or the college that they are in violation. The university will be told that they have a copyright infringement claim against them. Based on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, once the computer is isolated, then Internet access is terminated to that computer and court proceedings can begin.

Does this sound far fetched? Well, it is not. You should know that a few years ago Recording Industry Association of America sued four students. These students attended Princeton, Michigan Technical University and Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. One student had an estimated liability of $150 billion. When you consider that you can be charged $750 per song that you illegally download, the total can add up fast! The good thing is the lawsuits against the college students were settled for amounts less than $20,000. That is not pocket change for college students -- or anyone for that matter!

Movies and music are meant to be enjoyed. However, illegally downloading movies and music is not much different than walking into a video store and sticking DVDs and CDs in your pocket. Be careful. You do not want to be caught violating any movie copyright laws.


About The Author

Richard Cunningham is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for http://www.ResearchCopyright.com. Download his free e-book, "Copyright Basics" at http://ResearchCopyright.com.

What Lawyers Don't Want You To Know About Divorce

Author: Ed Sherman
The worst thing you can do is go to a lawyer without first becoming informed and prepared. It is not difficult to learn what you need to know, but very dangerous not to. Here's why:

1. In a divorce, the law is concerned with only three things—property, support, and parenting arrangements for minor children. That's it; that's all. If there is no legal opposition (papers filed in court) to your requests on these three subjects, getting a divorce is simply a matter of red-tape and paperwork, easy to do. The trouble comes when parties can't agree about these issues and do things that do more harm than good - like taking the divorce into a lawyer's office and into court while the disagreements are still unresolved.

2. Very few divorces hinge on valid legal issues. Over many decades, after millions of California divorces, almost every conceivable issue has already been decided in great detail and can be looked up in our enormous body of cases and statutes. This means there is only rarely a fact situation where we don't know ahead of time pretty much what any judge would order, so there's really no good legal reason for people to disagree, at least none worth the financial and emotional cost. The reason people argue is not about the law but about emotional things like hurt, fear and anger. Even more, it is because arguing is the fundamental nature of law practice and the legal system.

3. There are no solutions for divorce problems in a law office or court room. Divorce problems are almost entirely personal and emotional, but the law has no tools that can help. None. Not any. As to lawyers, nothing in law school prepares them to help people resolve disagreements based on emotional upset.

4. Retaining a lawyer almost always makes things worse rather than better. Worse than merely having no solutions for your divorce problems, our legal system - known as the adversarial system of justice - is based on conflict. It originated with trial by combat in the Middle Ages when people with a disagreement would battle before a representative of the King and the person who survived was right. A hair more civilized today, parties do legal battle in a courtroom before a judge and try to win a decision. When you take a divorce into the legal system to "settle" disagreements, things invariably get worse (no solutions there, remember?) and the level of conflict and cost go way up. Even when it's over, the parties come away broke, unhappy, disinclined to comply with orders that have been imposed, and less able to get on with rebuilding their lives or raise children cooperatively.

5. The things you can do yourself are far superior to anything a lawyer can do for you. The lawyer has no legal tools or training that can help you settle disagreements and get on with your life. But because the problems are entirely personal, between you and your spouse, there are many very specific things you can do to help reduce tension, avoid conflict, and negotiate or mediate a fair settlement. In the book, How to Solve Divorce Problems, you'll find ten specific steps to take before you start to negotiate, actions that help protect yourself, the children and the other party. These are followed by ten steps to take that will make your negotiations smoother and more effective.



About The Author

Ed Sherman is a divorce specialist attorney and award-winning author of How to Do Your Own Divorce in California. His books and software have saved millions of people billions of dollars in unnecessary attorney fees. Visit http://www.nolotech.com/

Ask And It Is Given - Does The Law Of Attraction Really Work?

Author: Lucretia Torva
By now the movie “The Secret” has been out for over a year. It's even been discussed on Oprah. Many people are ready to change their lives by using the Law of Attraction. OK, so now what? How come we can think of all the stuff we want and it doesn't show up? Where's my Genie!?!?

I believe the root cause of the appearance of failure is the difference between “Wishful thinking” and “Knowing”.

Have you ever wished you had a new car yet knew it would not appear? Sure...when there's only $56.33 in your bank account and the car you want costs over 40K, duh! You KNOW it won't materialize. That, my good friend, is wishful thinking.

Starting with a couple obvious examples, you KNOW the sky is blue and you KNOW that night will come at the end of the day. How about some other instances of knowing: have you ever known you were going to have a good time at a particular party, or that you were going to get what you wanted for Christmas, or that you were going to bump into a good friend you hadn't seen for awhile? You were using the Law of Attraction! You combined certainty with a good feeling. There must be both, just one won't bring your vision to life.

Now...do it again, deliberately and repeatedly. Consciously focus on your desired outcome and work up some really good feelings about it. Those heartfelt feelings give the Universe guidance about what you want. On the negative side, when you feel really bad about something, those feelings are intense enough to guide the Universe to give you more of whatever you feel about.

I have finally started having some success with the Law of Attraction. I guided my feelings by telling myself I am “falling in love” with my desires. The concept of “falling in love” allows you to feel deeply, those feelings that send a warm sensation through you like a sip of a fine liqueur will. It also keeps that desire in the top of your mind so you focus on it a lot and with great feeling.

Remember, combine the two aspects of Knowing and Feeling Good. As Donald Trump is quoted as saying: “As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think big”. A variation could be: “As long as you're going to be thinking anyway, think about everything you really want!”


About The Author

By Lucretia Torva. I am a freelance artist painting murals, portraits and faux finishes in the Southwest. I have been focusing my creativity on creating the life I truly desire! Check out my site and get on my mailing list http://www.CashFlowAttract.com