File Sharing and Intellectual Property

There is so much free information on the Internet that sometimes it's easy to forget there is also a lot of copyrighted material. Most music files are like that. So are many videos. The artists who created them own the rights, and those rights should be respected. It's how they earn their living, and it’s the law.

Kids everywhere like to listen to music. Your children and grandchildren are probably no different. They like to share it with their friends, and some kids use file sharing programs on the Internet to do that. Sharing a file they downloaded legally could still be a violation of intellectual property, and there is also a risk that they may share personal information that could create even bigger problems.

Careless use of file-sharing (or peer-to-peer) programs may expose children to disturbing content or open a door for malicious software that could damage, delete or copy your data. Exchanging music, video and other files with strangers is risky. Your kids could end up downloading pornography, computer viruses or spyware by mistake. Some file-sharing programs even let other users access your computer any time it's online.