Why Download Softwares/Scripts Legally?

The Effects of Piracy on Younger Individuals

1. Threatens entry level jobs – Reducing software piracy by just 10 percentage points worldwide would generate 1.5 million jobs and add $400 billion to the world economy, according to a study released by the Business and Software Alliance and IDC.
2. Many unknowingly engage in illegal acts and face the consequences – The online infringement of copyrighted music can be punished by up to 3 years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Repeat offenders can be imprisoned up to 6 years. Individuals also may be held civilly liable, regardless of whether the activity is for profit, for actual damages or lost profits, or for statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringed copyright.
3. Cost of legitimate copies increase – The street price will rise if most consumers switch to illegal copies. The resulting demand in the market for legal copies will decrease, thereby causing the manufacturer’s price to increase in order to partially offset the reduction in sales attributable to piracy.
4. Stifle opportunities for aspiring artists - Successful projects pay for the ones that may not recover their costs. For instance, Usher and Coldplay are paying for the newer bands the label is gambling on. This situation exists for both music and movies. If this ability to finance riskier projects is lost, the diversity and choice of projects presented to consumers will decrease, with only projects that appear to be “sure things” receiving support.

Album Art Downloader – Organize Music Collection

Album Art Downloader is the essential open source software download for anyone who enjoys creating and updating the art for their own private music collections, and will allow users to go through each of their albums and select matching cover images from a variety of sources.  Album Art Downloader will search online stores and databases such as Buy.com, Amazon, YesAsia and MusicMight and also search engines such as Google Images to find all of the cover art you need and will display them for you so that you can choose the one you want.

Installation
It is easy to download and install Album Art Downloader, and this free software is compatible with most operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Unix etc, but for some systems you will need Python 2.3+ and Python Imaging Library installed to run this software.  Album Art Downloader will display images on existing applications such as KDE, Gnome, Windows Media Player, Cdcover and CoverViewer (both freeware XMMS plugins) and also wmalbum (WindowMaker dock applet).  For example FreeDesktop.org formats such as KDE and Gnome will display the cover art as a folder icon whilst you are browsing through your collection.  Some portable music players will also be able to show the cover images you have updated in your collection if they are embedded in the MP3 file.

Using Album Art Downloader
When you first install this freeware the Album Art section will be blank and you will need to manually insert all of the albums you wish to find covers for by clicking on ‘File Open’ and then browsing your computer until you find your music library.  Now you need to select the albums you want to find cover art for and click on ‘open’ and they will be moved across to the application.  You can then click on ‘Download Covers’, which will begin an automatic search for all of the covers in the new directory you have set up, or you can manually select those albums you want to find covers for.  Once the image results have been returned you simply select the covers you want to keep and click on ‘Set as Cover’.

Download
To download Album Art Downloader you can simple go to www.album-art-downloader.en.softonic.com or visit any good freeware website such as www.freewarefiles.com, or www.fileforum.betanews.com.

OpenOffice – Free And Easy To Use MS Office Alternative

OpenOffice is a multiplatform open source project that offers a number of benefits for businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals, and is the product of over twenty years worth of software design and development.  This multilingual program is utilised worldwide and is completely free to download with no license fees, and you can use and distribute it for free also, and it is compatible with all of the other top office suites currently on the market.

Features
OpenOffice provides a number of useful features for home and office users, including word processor and spreadsheet functions, presentation software and vector drawing (ideal for informational graphic design) and is available for a number of different platforms including Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Mac OS, Unix/Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) and is a totally free alternative to leading office suite Microsoft Office.  OpenOffice operates and stores data in the open standard format, which means it can read and write files from any other office software and is easy to use with familiar looking screens and menus options, and is ideal for both beginners and experienced office suite users.
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