Free music and movies

How you can get free and legal movies for free.  but first some history….

If you’ve been around technology as long as I have, you’ve probably heard of P2P (peer to peer) file sharing.  P2p file sharing exploded with the original Napster (not the new Napster we have today) in the 90’s when mp3’s (small, digital music files) became mainstream.  MP3’s provided high quality digital copies of music.  This file format eased copying and easily triumphed over the slow, hissy, analog tape to tape copying process that degraded the music quality every time you copied it.  A digital video compression technique called mpeg-2 also triumphed over vcr tapes, allowing video files to be copied without the loss of quality.  Mpeg-2 video technology is used on dvds.

This digital revolution moved us from music cassette tapes and vcr’s to cds and dvd players.  Gone were the days of queuing the cassette tape with a pencil and recording songs over the radio, hoping the dj would not spoil the end of the song.  With the advent of digital file formats such as mp2 and mp3, and the new found communication medium called the internet, song sharing went from sneaker-net to the internet, from high school mixtapes to global trading.

To those that dared, the original Napster was the first real and easy to use music sharing tool which increased its popularity immensely.  The problem with the original Napster was that the amount of illegal digital mp3 file trading that increased its popularity, also increased its visibility which eventually led to its demise.  However, this was not the end of file sharing as other p2p networks rose such as bearshare and gnutella.  These applications and networks eventually whithered. The general use of FTPs and BBSs also decreased around this time – some still continue today!  While this digital evolution was playing out, a simple network called usenet began to be used for file-sharing.  Usenet and its newsgroups were traditionally for subject based text discussions but eventually became a medium for sharing digital files.  Usenet is a worldwide network of servers that peer with each other to share their internal newsgroups with each other.  Using clients such as Outlook Express, Grabit or newsleecher,  the process to upload or download files from Usenet enabled an almost anonymous level of downloading that may have saved Jammie Thomas-Rasset lots of legal fees.  Usenet is still alive and actively used today with ‘discussion’ groups such as alt.binaries.movies and alt.binaries.boneless.  Today w have a newer technology called Bit Torrent.  Bit Torrent was created to effectively distribute files without overwhelming the source.  In this technology, files are distributed not only from the original uploader, but also from the clients that are also downloading!  The files are hashed and verified to ensure they are the same and received unaltered.

Bit Torrent is similar to P2p sharing, where anyone sharing the file can be identified and sued.  Usenet is more anonymous… though not 100% without ip cloaking vpn technologies or the Tor network.  Bit Torrent, along with all the technologies described above are legal.  The use of those technologies remains the issue where organizations like the RIAA actively track movies and music and sue sharers.

While downloads using Bit Torrent are mostly free and easy, the time to find (and download) those files are not.  Unless you thoroughly scour the internet using google or other search engines, you must belong to a private group that shares its file tracker information to verified users in order to download the files.  Usenet also requires sometimes masterful and heroic searching abilities to locate a good (not fake), clean (virus free) copies of music or movies.  But watch out, sometimes the files may also be password protected, which sends you off on another adventure.    (Sometimes, a file may contain a password protected archive inside, along with an info text file with password information. If you can extract anything from the original archive, check the extracted contents for a text file containing a password or instructions for where to find one.  Also, consider checking the original usenet post for a password. Search the original file’s newsgroup to find the original message. Often, there is a password or a link to further information where one can be obtained.  You may also perform a google search with the name of the file. I.E Archive.rar.)  As you can see, while free, you may spend a lot of time looking for the almost impossible to find.

Yes, you are always welcome to use your disposable income on Pay oer View, Redbox, NetFlix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus and whatnot, but don’t forget whats already freely and legally accessible to you. DMAC Technology Group recommends that the music or movie aficionado instead peruse the resource that we have already paid for with our tax dollars – the local library.  The library has ‘free’ resources paid for by your tax dollars.  Some libraries have online access to music via freegal, e-books, electronic magazines via zinio, and movies.  When you find the target of your search, you can reserve and pick it up at your leisure or perhaps even download direct to your smartphone!  While it doesn’t have the absolute latest with albums or movies, libraries are easy, free, and can save you a few dollars here and there, and can definitely help you avoid the same fate of  Jammie Thomas-Rasset – and in my book, is worth more than a few free movies.

DMAC Technology Group can help you with your Home Entertainment needs.  Please contact us for a consultation today!