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In short, yes, you are going to need a software program in order to download media files. When you use a bittorrent protocol to download media files, there are two distinct steps involved. First, you download the torrent, which I think you have done successfully. The torrent file is a small file, it usually downloads in seconds, and it contains the data that your computer will need in order to download the media file that you selected. When you first select a song or a movie and download the torrent, all you have downloaded are the instructions that will help get you the file or files that you are actually after.

So, in order to use the torrent control file that you have downloaded to access the media file that you want, you need a software program, a torrent software client. There are a number of good torrent software programs. uTorrent, which is also called MicroTorrent, is popular for requiring only 1MB of space on your hard drive, as well as for being good, fast and user-friendly. Azureus, a close second behind uTorrent, has a user-friendly graphic interface, is fast, and has a built in search engine to help you find media files for download without leaving the program fast. A few others include BitComet, ABC, TurboBT and BitLord.

Since you are just getting started, you can choose any software program now and then revisit the decision after you have been downloading torrents for a while and have a better idea about what you want. So, choose a program, go to its website, and download the appropriate version for your computer. Follow all the steps until the end of the download.

Now that the program is installed on your computer, when you visit a torrent search engine, like isohunt, and choose a torrent file, the torrent software that you downloaded will open automatically and add the torrent media file to your download list. The torrent should take a while to download, depending on its size, and you can watch its progress on your software program. Take some time to get familiar with your program, they can seem alien at first, but once you get comfortable, there is nothing to it.

Before you start, make sure that your computer has the most recent Java runtime. There are versions for all operating systems easily available from http://www.java.com/. You will also need media players, Windows Media Player works well for most types of file, but make sure that you check their website for updates. VLC is also a good and versatile media player.

Yes. The difference between legal and illegal music downloads is that illegal downloads share copyright material without paying the creator or owner, as property laws require. If you are downloading music from a P2P file sharing site that offers access to music and movies for no charge, then they are most likely illegal downloads. If you are paying a fee for the music you download, the site is most likely making payments to the artist or their agency and the download is legal.

In addition to the advantage of free music, music sites online also appeal to users who want to shop from home, those who want to purchase single songs rather than entire albums and those who want the freedom to browse and sample large catalogues of music. For these reasons there are now music sites online that offer these services. A good example of this is Napster, which started as an illegal P2P file sharing program until it was forced to shut down in 2001 after the US Supreme Court ruled that the service had violated copyright laws. The developer of the program, a college student from Boston, was bankrupt and forced to liquidate to pay legal fees and fines. The Napster name and logo were acquired by a European company and then finally bought by the American electronics stores, Best Buy. Taking advantage of the Napster name and notoriety as a music site, the company now runs the website legally, selling access to unlimited music files for less than $10.00 per month.

Another legal music site that allows you to listen to unlimited music MP3s for 12.99 without paying for each track separately is Rhapsody. Rhapsody offers other features to seduce users including millions of songs on their database, personalized song recommendations generated from your searches and downloads, customized playlists and mobile access. Taking some of the market back from iTunes, Rhapsody is compatible with iPods. For a slightly higher fee these sites let you increase your membership to include downloads and mobile downloads.

iTunes might be the best known source for legal downloads and offers similar services to the other music sites and then some. Compatible with iPods that have high-resolution screens for viewing, iTunes also sells episodes of television programs and movies.

Legality of Peer to Peer

The legalities of file sharing are different in different countries and in different states, as different jurisdictions have tried varied approaches to deal with the problems associated with the illegal distribution of copyright material.

For example, in Canada it is not currently illegal to download music files, but it is illegal to “distribute” copyrighted material. A recent Supreme Court decision ruled that a file in a shared folder available on P2P networks did not qualify as distribution.

This approach is shared in the United States where the idea is meant to discourage people from making music files available rather than trying to discourage people from wanting to access it. Legally this approach intends to avoid a defense strategy claiming not to know the files are not legal downloads. Putting the responsibility on the supplier intends to make people responsible for the files and folders on their personal computers.

In recent American cases, the argument has been based around the theory that folders marked “shared” and accessible by network members online are illegal offers of copyright material.

Attempts to Discourage P2P

A few other approaches try to raise the costs of downloading illegal music files. In Canada the government imposes additional taxes and levies on blank CDs and other recording devices and then uses the funds to reimburse and support musicians and others in the industry for lost revenues. In order to share files, users first have to download an application to their computer that gives them access to the network of users. The program includes a search function that is then used to scan the shared files of the network that are stored on all the other user’s computers and the ability to choose and download these files to their own computers. There are several types of media files shared on P2P sites and the most common are songs, albums, movies and video games.

An Alternative View

At times, in Australia, the download of P2P file sharing programs themselves has been illegal. In the United States the RIAA - the Recording Industry Association of America - has launched cease and desist orders against some file sharing site, notably WinMX, a popular Windows-based P2P site, and pressured them with legal action until the site closed.

 File sharing is a central feature of all computer networks and especially of P2P, or peer-to-peer networks over the Internet. Essentially, file sharing refers to the process of making files and/or programs available to different users on different computers in a network. Sometimes this is achieved by connecting more than one computer to a central server where the files are saved, or by creating access to and from more than one computer through the Internet or a smaller network of computers. File sharing enables people and computers that are connected to the same network, through a software application, to browse, search and download from each other’s shared media files.

File sharing sites work by creating a network in which all the members offer the contents of their media files to the group and, in exchange, are able to access the files of the other members. Files are usually music, movies, and games. In order to make files available, users first have to upload them to their own computers by copying the material from either an original purchased CD or DVD or from a burned copy from another source. Once the file is saved on the computer, and the user is connected to the Internet and the network, the file is available for other members of the network to access and download.

File sharing allows people to build extensive media libraries, while most often not paying for the files they are acquiring. File sharing is usually a violation of copyright laws and different states and countries are trying to respond in appropriate ways. Some are trying to hold the network creators responsible for making the files available, others are aiming at people who make files available, and still others want to crack down on people who are downloading illegal files.

The most popular file sharing sites are those for media files like music, movies and computer games. Users first download a software program that gives them access to a network of users and the contents of their combined shared media files. Some of the most popular of these sites are LimeWire, Kazaa and WinMX - designed specifically for Windows users.

 As with every website on the Internet, risks are out there on P2P networking websites. In addition to the regular, garden-variety threats of worms and Trojans that might lurk and divert your attention and web browser to a third-party site that installs malware on your system, there are some added risks on P2P sites.

In order to use P2P sites and to download or upload media files, users have to install the software program on their computers. Often times, free P2P downloads are bundled with adware and spyware programs. These programs then run adware and spyware instructions in the background while you are using the site. Malware programs like these pose risks to you and your system ranging from annoying pop-up ads to system infiltration and the theft of your personal information and data. Even if the symptoms of a malware program are slight and not too interfering, in time they can increase and impair the processing speed and functionality of your computer. Running a good anti-virus program on your computer, complete with up to date definitions from the manufacturer help protect you against these risks.

Another risk involved in using P2P sites is that you might accidentally download a computer virus. For reasons known only to themselves some people enjoy writing and publishing damaging computer programs. Like vandals, virus writers seem to like wreaking havoc in the lives of strangers, stealing and damaging data and hardware and revealing the insecurities of their computer use.

Having a good security suite is the first defense, but users can also protect themselves by looking at files carefully before downloading them. You can look at the number of people who are uploading the file, known as seeds, and at the number of people downloading it, leaches. You don’t want to download anything that no one else seems interested in. Also, there are usually comments on the download posted below the link, reading these will let you know what people who have already downloaded the file have to say about it. If there are comments about it not working well or being something other than it is posted as, don’t download it.

 P2P is short for peer-to-peer and is the name of a comparably recent development in computer networking. More traditional client-server based networks organize users around one central system that hosts a large catalogue of files. In a P2P structure the software program connects users and creates a network of all the different hard drives. Users are able to access files from each other’s computers and offer the contents of their shared folders in a network of peers. In a peer-to-peer network users can upload and download files as long as they are connected to the Internet. The structure of a P2P network that relies only on a shared software application makes the sites hard to monitor and control. One such site, WinMX, used a central server for organization and facilitation, and was officially shut down under legal and financial pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) but re-opened days later as a user organized and operated network. The site still allows illegal downloads, but there is now no central authority to hold responsible.

The general community of people uploading and downloading a particular file is called the ‘swarm’. In the swarm, those uploading files for other users are called seeds, and those who are downloading are called leeches. The more seeds there are uploading a file, the faster the file can be downloaded.

There are numerous benefits of P2P networks. Users can access a wealth of information and data and are they are able to exchange files freely and without restriction.

The most popular P2P sites today include Rhapsody and iTunes, which both offer monthly memberships and a variety of options and are legal sites that charge a fee for downloads. Other popular sites like LimeWire and Kazaa allow users to share files without fees and are not legal. Another kind of P2P site that is very popular uses BitTorrent technology that works the same way as P2P networking, only it breaks large files like movies and albums into smaller chunks so that they can be uploaded and downloaded faster.

There are also drawbacks to P2P sites that offer illegal downloads. There are ethical and legal issues to consider when using these sites. Since the files are covered by copyright laws and since they are protected by property laws, unless the site is paying royalties to the artist or the recording studio, downloading them is not legal. It is difficult to enforce these laws, but the American government has arrested and charged several people for “distribution” of files without copyright permission.