Reading books is no longer limited to physical books.  One of the more recent offered options to get your hands on desired book contents is through e-book downloads.  An e-book is a common but relevant freebee provided by many websites today although many are being offered for sale.

An e-book or electronic book is a digitalized publication that may contain text and images just like regular books.  It is however read on computers or a specific electronic device used for the purpose of reading books known as e-book readers.  E-books may or may not have a printed equivalent.

There are clear advantages of opting for e-books over physical books including the comparatively small space that will be occupied by numerous e-books stored in a single device.  In this case, the only limit lies in the memory capacity of the chosen device.  E-books also come out cheaper compared to physical books although an initial investment will have to be placed on an e-book reader.  Readers who are contented to do their reading on their computers or even select mobile phones don’t even have to deal with this cost, if not desired.  There is also a whole range of e-books being offered for free online.  Just like regular books, e-books can be bought or borrowed depending on the agreement with the service provider.  The entry of e-books has also allowed authors whose works were rejected by established publishers to self-publish.

Readers who have a special relationship with books in the physical sense cannot derive the same fulfillment from e-books since there is no paper to feel and viewing of pictures is not exactly the same on screen.  The life of an e-book can also be determined by the battery life of the device, digital rights management realities, and the life time of the company offering the service.  Although e-books address specific reader needs, physical books are still here to stay.  Never the less, voracious readers will never say no to other options.

Very few people have the luxury of being always available to watch a favorite TV show with a designated time slot.  This is true to most professionals who have to attend to work matters on a daily basis.  Fortunately, there are two legal options available to certified TV buffs.

One option is downloading TV shows on your hard drive.  This allows you to view the shows on a later time that is convenient to you.  Questions of legality may arise from downloading shows over the Internet thus a network’s official website is always a safe bet.  TV downloads provided for free by networks are usually given for the purpose of promotion such as for upcoming series or a special episode. 

TV networks view this type of download as perfectly legal since they, as the creators and copyright holders are the ones making the offer.  While it is often presumed that downloads of TV programs used exclusively for private viewing is legal since there is no intention to share, sell, distribute, or profit from it, there is an ongoing debate about this since the act still involves an intellectual property. 

There are many sites that offer legal downloads of missed episodes of TV show series but these are always based on a specific time of usage.  It is not a perpetual or an unlimited proposition but merely a chance to catch up on a missed show while it is legitimately offered.  It is also not intended to be copied and saved for long-term use or sent to another person’s computer.

Since many syndicated TV shows are not being offered for legal downloading, viewers can opt for the streaming video option.  Streaming however is only as good as the speed of the Internet connection.  A pleasant viewing experience is not possible with a slow connection as manifested by skips and slowdowns.  With the absence of advertising most often forced upon TV viewers, online TV watching may be just perfect.

People have been trying to establish specific identities through hair styles , clothing, and the entertainment sites they choose to patronize.  With the introduction of cell phones, people found another way to establish their identity by choosing ringtones that define who they are in terms of uniqueness or generics as well as in musical preference.  Aside from performing the usual function of alerting phone owners of incoming calls, ringtones are increasingly being used as a way of creating a public image. 

Ringtones that call attention can speak volumes for its owners in the same manner that “generic” ringtones may suggest a person’s preference to conform to general standards.  While the former successfully identifies a person within a crowd, the latter allows the phone owners to be part of the crowd.  This is a phenomenon closely associated with the propensity of some ringtones to cause a “disturbance” in public, thereby eliciting a response that inadvertently results to judgment of a person, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Monophonic ringtones are largely regarded by most people especially the young as boring thus the preference for more exciting versions such as truetone, singtone, and even video ringtones.  The ringtone business is considered one of the most profitable aspects of the music industry where consumers are willing to pay up to $ 3 to avail of mobile music through ringtones.  The public is given a wide range of choices consisting of pre-existing songs or  uniquely created tunes and mixes of these songs.  Royalties are paid to the owners of the songs although a significant portion of the price goes to the provider.

There are a good number of reliable sites offering downloadable ringtones for free or through fee payment. While others require payment for every download, some provide unlimited number of downloads for a fixed membership fee.  Personalized ringtones can define who you are so it would be advisable to give the choice considerable thought before its use results to a less favorable public reaction than what is desired.

High-quality games of today require graphics that are extravagantly realistic.  Such games are aimed at creating a gaming experience that is unique and nothing short of sensational.  Even young children are no longer content with simple games and prefer those that involve a huge amount of interaction not only with the game itself  but with other players as well.

Although better understanding of the work that goes into the creation of any game would not make its price any more accessible to consumers than their personal budgets would allow, awareness could give rise to consumers having more respect to creators’ rights.  It has to be understood that the rights of others should not be compromised as people indulge in harmless fun like playing video games.  One option that can be resorted to is to legally download offered games from a reliable site.

Computer users should not grab at all games purportedly offered for free over the Internet.  Unless the games creator has a specific purpose for offering it without charge such as in promotional activities, there is probably a catch somewhere along the lines of the underlying motives of sites that offer them without asking anything in return.  Remember that if anything is too good to be true, it probably is and there might be serious consequences in participating in it.  The best way to download games is to do so through a reputable site that charges a reasonable fee for access not only to one but a wide range of different games.

Explaining the concept of piracy to kids can be very difficult especially with the great ease and wide availability of downloadable movies, music, games. TV shows, and software.  We have been accustomed to associating secrecy and shame with criminal acts that it is sometimes hard to reconcile that what appears to be socially acceptable is in fact something legally prohibited.  How do we explain to our children that such acts of downloading are categorized as piracy of copyrighted materials?

The best way of teaching children to go the right way is to lead by example.  This requires parents to avoid illegal downloads since no one can preach what one does not practice.  You cannot be saying one thing and doing another.  Inconsistency between words and actions only leads to confusion especially for young minds who usually take the words of adults at face value.  It has to be clearly explained that not because it is easy to do and their friends do it, it does not mean that it is right. 

The justification that the download made is purely for personal use and not intended to be exchanged for any monetary consideration is beside the point.  There are ethical and legal consequences of illegally downloading copyrighted material and kids have to be made aware of this.  Many download innocently but we all know that ignorance of the law excuses no one.

Modern pirates now refer to people who download music, movies, games, and software .  They use the creative works of  other people without paying for them.  Computer users should be aware that they can be turned over to authorities by their ISP Provider once connection to an illegal site is detected and large file download is flagged.

It is best to guide kids towards the right path early on so that they are made aware of responsibilities associated with using technology.

The so-called peer-to-peer (P2P) phenomenon or file-sharing specifically of music has been sought to be stopped at the threat of legal prosecution.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998 reinforced the earlier existing copyright laws of the United States.  The legal move was based on the premise that illegal downloading of music infringes on the intellectual property rights of musicians and artists as it reduces the amount of money they should be earning. 

Internet music piracy has been blamed for decreased CD sales although not everyone is convinced.  This is because majority of those who choose to download in this manner are not actual potential buyers.  They share music in the same way that they share other things to their friends since these people are teens and college kids.

File-sharing has been credited for playing a big part in furthering the popularity of songs.  This move is generally spontaneous and those who do it for no financial consideration rarely have criminal inclinations of copyright infringement.  That said, it doesn’t change the fact that illegal downloading remains legally unacceptable, although it appears to be socially acceptable.    

Even when the Recording Industry Association of America or the RIAA has conceded to the truth that file sharing is only one of the many factors that negatively affected CD sales along with slow economic conditions as well as competing forms of entertainment, ceasing of illegal downloading of music is still being actively campaigned for.  Not because you pay a site to download music automatically means you are not violating any law.  It can happen that the site itself has no right to distribute the music which you downloaded. 

Given the very complicated situation, isn’t it possible to harness the strength of P2P towards the benefit of the music industry, especially since there appears to be nothing yet that can absolutely stop file sharing?

It appears that in spite of best efforts by the music industry to push CD sales and legal download, not enough revenue is being generated to sustain people of particular interest to the recorded music industry.  These are the music publishers, the rights owners, and the companies offering downloads.  Because of the prevailing situation, companies like Apple and Amazon are pushing for a cloud-based alternative to digital music services.  All indications point to the inclination of consumers towards access over download.  This simply means that music lovers will more and more prefer to stream their desired songs rather than to  physically own records and albums.

Subscription to mobile music streaming services is expected to become mainstream by the year 2016.  This forecast if realized, spells positive developments for consumers as well as the mobile music streaming providers and the middle men in the business.  Musical artists will have the advantage of unlimited access to various options for product distribution although there are serious concerns about the income-generating capability of selling recorded music.

In a survey conducted in September 2011, streaming music online for free and downloading digital music files for free have percentage shares akin to current mainstream activities including buying physical copies of CD or vinyl and purchasing music files online.  The same survey shows that a very small number of consumers would pay to stream music online.  Industry observers are almost in complete agreement that digital music consumers will travel the same path as that of online social gamers where only a few opted to pay for the privilege of getting premium service and many settle for less as long as there are no monetary considerations involved.

The increasing usage when music and service is offered for free is observed universally.  This is the reason why internet service providers and electronic device manufacturers are scrambling to bundle music access into their offered packages.  Concerns about audio quality take a backseat for now to instant access.

Pictures which are not subject to copyright protection are those in the public domain.  Public domain images include works that have been released by their owners for use of the general public.  A desired picture may not readily reveal if it is public domain or not which may necessitate further checking of copyright status, if any.

Copyright law allows for the “fair use” of any pictures without the need to seek permission from the owner.  This would usually include non-profit seeking purposes such as for a school report or for a community activity.  Thumbnail images lifted from other sites have been declared by courts as falling under “fair use”.  There are of course other considerations like the number of times it was used and how it was used.

Since copyrights to an image is not always clear, determining whether it is public domain or not may be tricky.  Generally, photos that are considered public domain includes government photos, photos taken after the year 1989 except when otherwise stated, photos with expired copyrights, and photos posted on public domain websites.  These sites are quite clear about the restriction-free nature of their posted images. 

Once an image is declared public domain, it can be used for any private or commercial endeavor subject to certain restrictions of owners when applicable.   Sites who offer these images typically requests for link backs or any credit, although most are not compulsory.  Images with higher resolution are also usually offered for a fee.  Public domain images collected in a site may come from various sources.  Public domain pictures should stay as such and persons who have used it cannot claim copyrights on them.

Android has recently released its latest version for mobile phones which like its predecessors is named after a dessert.  Called the Ice Cream Sandwich, it brings the features of  Honeycomb (an earlier version), to the fore plus some added ones .  Mobile phone users will be happy to know that these new offerings include facial recognition unlock, photography enhancements, network data usage monitoring and control, offline email searching, unified social networking contacts, and information sharing using NFC.  The version initially comes with Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus phone but with the release of the source code last November 14, 2011, work for developing ports for other mobile devices has begun.

Android is an operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablet computers, netbooks, among others.  The system is aimed to be provided under free and open source software as developed by Open Handset Alliance led by Google.  The only known instance when Google withheld the source code was for its tablet-only Honeycomb release which was blamed on its rushed production.

Multitasking just got easier and more pleasantly visual with the release of this newest Android version.   Users are assured of a powerful medium for communication and sharing.  Widgets can be resized to allow either expansion or shrinkage in showing content.  The new voice input engine offers an open microphone system that allows for unlimited dictation in the preferred language.  The fun factor which has become a must for all gadgets and devices, is not lost in this version as graphical transformations such as background change and morphing effects are provided.  The Android Beam allows instantenous sharing of music, videos, apps, and the like between two NFC-enabled devices by merely tapping send.  It also introduced built-in support for connecting Bluetooth Health Device Profile designs. 

Illegal downloading of anything which is considered an intellectual property is said to be a non-traditional form of stealing.  This is most often done with music and movies, albeit unknowingly by many consumers.  You can help create awareness for the important issue and promote your blog as well.

Downloading copyrighted materials is against the law.  It has serious economic effects due to uncollected tax and decreased job opportunities for those directly involved in the production of the downloaded materials.  Rules of ethics dictate that it is wrong to deprive people of the rightful fruits of their labor.  This means paying for the enjoyment of the music,movie or book  that we choose.

Websites can only distribute materials in which they hold distribution rights to.  In the absence of such rights, they and their customers can be liable to possible consequences including payment of fine, arrest, and suspension of Internet service.  The concerned industries have been trying to prevent illegal downloads through certain blocking technologies and reporting the download to the consumer’s Internet service provider but illegal downloading still remains a big issue among concerned industries.

Legal downloading websites can make their presence known through a blog review.  For a standard fee of $ 14.99, a blog is reviewed and then published  with backlinks to the blog itself.  The membership package brings with it additional traffic, feedbacks, and links, which are all-important factors for blog success.  The sign-up process simply requires blog details and the payment of the fee.  Confirmation is given through email.  All members can avail of advanced membership packages to take advantage of more exposure and support.