Blockbuster and Hollywood Video have gone out of business. The idea of going to a store to check out a movie is foreign, because now we have the luxury of viewing anything at our fingertips. Sometimes people in other countries download movies and then put them online so other people can download for free. So what is exactly happening if someone is not paying for a movie?
It turns out, a lot. Most people know that downloading movies from shady sources can expose your computer to the risk of a virus, but you also risk being traced or even tracked. Seems far fetched, right? But true story: I was sitting at Shields Library working with a group for a project. Then all of a sudden, one the group members, whom I will not name, asked me if they could use my laptop “for the Wi-Fi.”
I said sure, is it not working?
And the person said no, I accidentally watched a video on campus and my laptop was pinged, so now I cannot access the Wi-Fi.
I was shocked, and confused at how something so simple as watching a movie could ban someone for life. I could not even imagine going to school and not being allowed to access the Internet.The fact that this has happened on our campus is scary. What people do in their free time is on them; however, the consequences of watching a movie online can be far greater than the benefit. Not illegally watching a movie through online streaming does for keeping the integrity of the production world intact. It is a crime and it can be traced far more easily that we think. So please be careful and mindful next time.