What is the big issue with copyright and file sharing?
Many music, games, and videos downloaded through peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing programs fall into the category of copyright infringement. That is, the people downloading the files do not have the permission of the copyright owner to do so. In addition, file-sharing programs do not determine whether requests for media files are for copyright-licensed or freely-sharable materials. This means that if you copy music to your computer from a CD you purchased and are signed on to a peer-to-peer service with file-sharing enabled, you are making the copyrighted music you purchased available to others. YOU are distributing copyrighted material and the copyright owner can hold you liable for a copyright violation. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see Copyright Law above) makes it a crime to create, sell, or distribute software or other devices that can be used to illegally copy software. It also protects Internet Service Providers (ISPs) from liability for the transmission of infringing co
