Ever since Napster came onto the scene back at the end of the last century (the original version, not the current incarnation) sharing music has been commonplace on the internet.

Over the last few years it has extended to sharing movies, TV shows and other types of content as well.

Many people don’t realize that this is illegal in most countries and if caught they could be facing some pretty hefty fines. Just ask Jammie Thomas, a 30 year old woman from Minnesota who was successfully sued by the recording industry for sharing music over the internet - to the tune of $222,000.

But aside from the legalities, another serious problem is that you don’t know what else you might be getting along with that song or that movie. Spyware, viruses and other security threats are commonplace on these file-sharing networks, and if you download something that includes one of these things, your computer could be wide-open to any number of hacker attacks.

Is it really worth saving a few dollars on that movie or music to potentially be fined a large amount, while at the same time having your computer invaded by some kind of attack that could lead to even more serious problems?