ILLEGAL MOVIE DOWNLOADS

As the firestorm of controversy and legal action surrounding movie download sites grows, online movie rental companies, such as Blockbuster and Netflix are experiencing exponenetial membership growth. If you surf the internet, chances are that you stumbled across a number of sites that offer close to unlimited movie downloads for free or a nominal membership fee. These sites have a number of problems, not the least of which is the ptoentaila of adware, viruses, or spyware being downloaded as well. The primary danger thought is that issue of legality, or lack thereof. Many of the sites, which use a P2P, or Peer to Peer structure, claim legitimacy. The MPAA has targeted many of the sites, and while some have gone out of business; there are others that have obtained a legal operating status. This status is deceptive however, because if you look at the disclaimers, most will state that, "the use of filesharing software for the uploading or downloading of copyrighted works without the permission or authorization of the copyright holders may be illegal and may subject the consumers to civil or criminal liabilities and penalties."


This means that even if the site is technically legal, anyone who uses it to download any copyrighted material such as movies, music, video games, etc., could be prosecuted. Sites such as these result in the MPAA pursuing legal action against individuals. This has happened in the past, with criminal charges that can result in fines and imprisonment ranging up to $600,000 and five years. While some claim that the probability of getting caught is low, this is not necessarily true. In the summer of 2007 the MPAA created a movie download site as a front to catch pirates. The site would link to movies, but also to an accelerator application, which would act as a trojan horse that scanned individual hard drives for pirated content and then transmitted that information to the MPAA. These deterrants have resulted in more and more people trying out offers such as BLOCKBUSTER FREE TRIALS.

BLOCKBUSTER FOREVER

Although you may not have heard of them if you've lived in a cave or nuclear shelter for the past couple of decades, Blockbuster has been and remains a power player in the movie rental industry. Much of what Blockbuster offers is innovative, such as the absence of late fees and due dates.

They have a variety of plans which start at $3.99 a month and include Blockbuster Total Access and Blockbuster Total Access Premium packages. Members create a Queue online from the selection of over 80,000 movies, including all new DVD releases, and then receive them free of shipping via mail. With the Total Access package most popular option of $19.99 a month, members can rent up to three DVDs at a time and have the option of sending them back in the prepaid envelope or taking them to a local Blockbuster store and exchanging them for free rentals (up to five free in store exchanges a month, and discounted ones after that). You can also exchange for discounted video game rentals.

As a Blockbuster online member, you will also be eligible for exclusive deals and discounts each month at participating Blockbuster stores. Blockbuster has an extensive categorization and recommendation system of classic and new DVD releases and also allows you to buy new and used DVDs online; as well as offering subscriber discounts on online retail purchases. The Total Access Premium package has unlimited free in store exchanges, so the only thing interrupting your movie marathon will be the microwaved popcorn. Blockbuster is currently giving 50% off the first month in addition to a FREE TRIAL.