Side nav buttonsIf you're not a member JOIN us by clicking here.Check out some links we think might be helpfulFind our where we will be so you can join us.Get some free tech tipsGet the 411 on what's going on in the Tampa Bay area.Check out our co-hostessCheck out our hostess HeatherShow infoMembers access

File Sharing Programs

Remember Napster? Napster was a file sharing program that was put out of business because it focused on sharing the MP3 file format which is generally music. This allowed the music industry to file suit, win and shut Napster down.

Is file sharing dead? Not by a long shot. Is it illegal? You can't end file sharing because what if I write a letter or I'm working on a graphic and I want to "share" it? There is no one to say I can't share something I created. This allows us to share whatever we want.

Is music sharing Illegal, in short, yes, unless you own the CD which means you bought it from the store or online from the record company you can't own it or have possession of it. Same with software or anything else. If you didn't buy it, make it or were given permission to have it by the creator or distributor it is pirated.

Can you get busted? Ahhh, noooooo. The only way you can get busted is if you are reported to the company whose product you are pirating or the police. To do this you would have to have someone really hate you or if you are a sick bastard and looking a child porn any technician worth his salt will call the cops and report you.

Do you have files that you want to share or know someone who wants to send you something too big for email? Go to www.download.com and get yourself a file sharing program.

RECOMENDATIONS: We can not and do not recomend any particular software and we are not responsible for damage that may occur to your computer if you use these programs.

With that being said you can look for 2 things, 1 is the software with the highest number of downloads. This means there are more people using it so it is more likely that you will find what you are looking for. The drawback is that there is usually stuff in them called SpyWare and AdWare because people don't know what the hell they are doing. These are additional pieces of software loaded to your computer that do things you may not want going on. To avoid them use software free of them .

The second thing is to have an antivirus software running and up to date with the latest virus definitio files. This type of unrestricted file sharing breeds viruses like crazy.