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Music copyright infringement How Does Music Copyright Infringement Affect Me? Music copyright infringement happens all around us every day, by both well meaning people downloading music from their favorite social networking site to the guy who’s reselling MP3s. To be certain, most people who commit music copyright infringement don’t realize what’s going on, and are in turn doing something very illegal and prosecutable in the United States. Copyright Infringement, as defined by Wikipedia.org states: “Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is protected by intellectual property rights law particularly the copyright in a manner that violates one of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. The slang term bootleg (derived from the use of the shank of a boot for the purposes of smuggling) is often used to describe illicitly copied material.” We’ve all heard of ‘bootleg’ recordings – usually audio recordings taken from concerts and sold on home made cassettes or CDs and distributed (sometimes out of the trunk of a car) to anyone that will buy. Bootleg recordings have changed, however, as music copyright infringement has branched into video recordings. Music copyright infringement has exploded with the advent of the internet, and now people from all over the world are sharing every type of imaginable file – from eBooks to audio to music – and small label artists began feeling the pinch years ago. However, many new and older artists are beginning to see the beauty of the internet, and are offering their music for sale track-by-track on iTunes and other MP3 sales websites, as well as through their own band websites and MySpace pages. The internet has exploded in the possibilities it’s given up and coming musicians to become visible, while at the same time drastically increasing the number of music copyright infringement cases – some of which were against innocent people who just weren’t informed. Music copyright infringement cases have helped to create organizations that protect the fair use of an item, such as a song. Organizations such as CreativeCommons.com and the Electronic Frontier Foundation help individuals to know their rights under copyright acts. While there are organizations that help you understand your rights as a purchaser of copyright use, there are organizations that want to limit the ways in which you use the products you buy. It is rumored, for example, that record distribution and production companies want to limit the ways in which you use the music you buy – they don’t want you to put it on your computer or make a Mix Tape or CD from it – for fear of ‘sharing.’ It seems to me, however, when music publishers and distribution companies limit uses like this, they’re opening up a tidal wave of music copyright infringement cases. By limiting the use of purchased material, the companies are alienating their client base and pushing all their sales away from physical products and toward electronic ones – which are much harder to control. A way in which these companies tried to limit the uses was by creating a DRM program, which severely limited the where a CD could be played (on one computer, for instance). And, in one drastic measure, Sony placed a DRM program on all their CDs in the Winter of 2005, and severely crippled several networks when their ‘program’ was actually malware that seriously crippled network security. As you can see, music copyright infringement is something that is currently being fought between end users and music production and distribution companies. In this new century, we must find a way to retain copyright, and allow the customers to use the products they buy in a meaningful way, or otherwise the market will shift and the industry as we know it will be abandoned.

Great Sources for Free Games on the Internet The Internet is a great source for games, especially of course computer games. Computer games are the biggest hit since they are invented and every year thousands of PC games flood the market. Some of the computer games actually are so expensive that many parents cannot afford them for their children and are looking for alternatives that their children can play. There are actually a vast number of games that are available for free through the Internet and in some cases even as a CD. Freeware, shareware, trial products and even full version of prototypes are available on the Internet. Many pages on the Internet actually specialize in offering freeware or shareware programs. Hobbyist programmers usually write shareware and freeware programs and other programmers, who want to give something back to the community. These programs are not always working one hundred percent and most often there is also no real support for all the programs, but they are free. Freeware in general is a free program that has a copyright. The program is made available free for use, but it cannot be changed or used for development by other developers. Shareware programs are often only free for certain periods of time. After that period the user has to pay for using the software. Shareware programs are a marketing method of big computer firms. It is the try before you buy strategy that is used here. Some companies will offer the full version of the program for 30 days for trial, while others offer a version of the program with reduced functions to give the user a taste and to lure the user to buy the product if he wants to use the rest of the functions. Even thougfh both freeware and shareware are often callled free software, free software is something completely different. Free osftware are programs that are available for free, but generally are also avialble for others to study the code, change and modify or even use the code as a base for their development. In any way, these three major types of free game software can be found on the Internet along with such things as online games. Some of the games can be plauyed online. Evne though the userm ight not own the software, the games can be played for free anytime. The only thing that most of those free onlin game pages require is to sign up to their page for free. For younger hcildren, many of the educational sites offer free preschool and early childhood computer games, that teach children, the shapes, colors, vocabulary, counting and much more. With parental sucpervision such activities are safe for children and can enhance the learning process. Other pages offer free games for older chidlren and adults. While many parents do not constantly check on their chidlren while they are on the itnernet, it is important to keep up to date on their youngsters Internet activites. Many pages are completely safe, but sometimes advertisement to found the free software can be dangerous for young, innocent eyes. For adults, there are even more choices in free games. There are whole communities of gamers, that are connected throughout the world for vieosgaming sessions. Anything form cardgames to wargames can be played for free in some of those communities. All one needs might be a free membership sign up to the web page or the community. All of these sources for games can be found easily by typing the words freeware, shareware, online games into any of the major search engines. But as always, do it with cuation, conisdering the many viruses and spyware programs that aare out there in cyberspace.

Three Important Tips to Land Better Job Prospects If you are not satisfied with your current job or the job prospects that you are running across, it is time to revise your search. Use these three tips to help find the type of job prospects you are looking for. First of all, before you start your job search, figure out exactly what it is that you are looking for. Going out into the world and searching for any type of job is the perfect way to end up with an array of job prospects you are unsatisfied with. Think about the reasons why you are ready to leave your current job. Consider what things you are looking for in a career that your current job is not giving you. Are you looking for make more money? If so, only apply for jobs that will increase your income. Are you tired of working long hours and weekends? Then do not apply for jobs that will keep you at the office after hours and during family time on the weekends. By defining what exactly it is that you want in a job, you will be able to weed out the jobs you do not want. Once you are able to concentrate on the select few that have the qualities you are looking for, you will be able to put froth the effort necessary to get those jobs. Another thing that many people do when they are looking for a job is underestimating their own skills. You do not want to apply for jobs that you have absolutely no skills or training for unless they offer training, of course, but you can apply for jobs that you have some of the skills to do. For instance, if you are apply for an office job where that you need to be able to maintain the company website and you are familiar with the components of designing and maintaining a website, but have not done it on a regular basis, apply. On your resume explain that you have a working knowledge of html and other website tools. That way the employer will understand that you are not an expert at the task but you are capable of beginning, and with some help, finishing the task. Never misrepresent your skills on a resume. Instead, be honest and place emphasis on the skills that you do have. Apply for jobs that you have some of the skills for only. If you get an interview, be ready to impress the interviewer by being totally prepared. Speak confidently and make eye contact. Confidence can take you a long way when it comes to the job hunt. Shoot for the stars! If you want better job prospects you will need to believe that you deserve a better job. That means you will need to have some faith in yourself and be willing to apply for higher-level jobs. The only way you are going to get better job prospects is if you apply for the better jobs. Do not be intimidated by job descriptions. If you read a list of responsibilities and you cannot perform all of them yet, apply for the job. There is a good chance that you will be asked if you can perform the specific tasks of the job when you get an interview. This is the time to explain what tasks you are capable of performing. Better job prospects are highly attainable. You just have to clearly define what it is you want from a job and believe that you deserve and will get that type of job. Believe in yourself and you are halfway there.