91Èȱ¬

The first person in Scotland to be convicted of illegally sharing music files has received a sentence of three years probation.

Anne Muir admitted distributing £54000 worth of copyrighted music files via a peer-to-peer file sharing application.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing is a way of allowing users to essentially pool files by uploading them and making them available to other users to download. Many applications have thousands and thousands of users, leaving large numbers of files open to illegal download. Even though the original file may have been purchased legally - from online music stores for example - sharing them, whether for profit or not, is against the law.

In December it was reported that nearly 8 million people illegally downloaded music in 2010, costing the industry an estimated £219m.

IP addresses and ISPs (Internet Service Providers) can be used to track down users seen to have been illegally sharing copyrighted files.

In May, an independent review carried out by Professor Ian Hargreaves recommended updating the law on the common practice of altering file formats, which would formally allow you, for example, to transfer a CD you got for Christmas to an mp3 player without worrying about breaking the law. However, this would only cover private use and as soon as files are made available to the public without permission from the copyright holder, file sharers are in illegal download territory.

It's not always easy to know which files are copyrighted and sites like offer lots of information including resources for parents on download laws and a directory of sites you can legally download from.

For more on downloading, read the 91Èȱ¬ WebWise guide: How do I download files?

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Hajar is part of the WebWise production team and has also made award-winning programmes for 91Èȱ¬ Radio. In her spare time she loves reading, writing and singing.