Parents Beware! Music or Porn?

By Angie Kibiloski
Entertainment Editor, Computer Times
http://computertimes.com

Go to Computer Times home page

Today, music can be downloaded for free, using any number of software programs. There are numerous sites online, where you can download free software to use for this purpose. This is not the danger, however. The fact is, that music is not the only thing that can be found on some of these sites. One kind of file sharing, called Peer to Peer sharing, allows a site to host different kinds of files, with no legal boundaries whatsoever.

What does this mean to you? Why should you, as a parent, be concerned over this? Because, now it is so much easier for your child to access porn. Yes, I said PORN. I will use the program called Kazaa as an example, since this is the one I have most contact with.

A user of Kazaa can go into the search window, type in any word such as "sex," "porn," or any other more specific and descriptive words or phrases, and be presented with dozens upon dozens of text, sound, and video files for their downloading and viewing pleasure, all for free. There is no registration, and no age check on these search engines, so there is really no way to regulate their usage.

So, this is just a friendly warning. When downloading any software for the purpose of free music, be aware of what other features come with the package. Because, even though YOU may not use the search engine for other purposes, someone else in your household might. I would recommend iMesh as a quality music download package. It is purely music, and I have had extremely good luck with it in the past. Good luck, and happy downloading!