[DM-MUG] Question 2, downloading movies

[Roses Derise]

Dear Friends,

Are there legal ways to download movies,etc. without paying iTune prices?

As I am disabled, I spend a lot of time in bed and have limited resources.
It would be so great to be able to watch movies and TV shows on my  MacBook
Pro, or (instead of having to make a trip to the local library or the
movie-rental place, which for me is kind of a big deal) burn a disk so I
could watch it on the tube. More than just entertainment, as a writer I need
to do research (that¹s why I have the blessing of having the MacBook Pro,
because I got a grant for it to write a book.)

But on my income, the costs of buying movies, either as disks or downloads,
are prohibitive. One thing I need, for instance, is a History Channel series
that costs a week¹s worth of groceries to buy outright. I¹ve spent hours on
the net trying to find legal places to get affordable downloads, but without
success (and worse, stumbling into porn sites etc. and worrying that I
might, ignorant as I am, download something harmful). I use Netflix rentals
for DVDs, but if I need something (such as this history channel series) on
hand to refer to for research over a period of time, then that doesn¹t serve
the purpose. 

Feeling that creators deserve to be paid for their creations, I seriously
don¹t want to be a pirate. On the other hand, I can to some extent justify
³borrowing² it off the internet the same as if I had gone to the public
library and borrowed it there, just without having to make a physical trip
to town, or that I could legally download and keep on a DVR if I had
satellite TV. 

But even when I try to do this ³borrowing² I have been unsuccessful in
getting anything to work. I¹ve tried two different ³free movie² sites (pay
$35 for a lifetime of free movies, etc.) only to discover these sites seems
to be the same company with different names, all using software called
Limewire (lots of porn to wade through) and VLC movie players, I have been
unable to get them to work. Other sites say they don¹t support Mac. Wal-Mart
download movies which I have heard has movies in the under $5 range, doesn¹t
support Safari (only Internet Explorer, which I have had no luck in
downloading.)

So, besides any general advice you might have, do any of you know
1. where I can find an affordable, respectable, and legal buy, rent, or file
sharing service or 
2. where to go and how to make it work to borrow what I need, and
3. how do I burn DVDs of shows which I own or borrow and want to put on my
computer?

I also wouldn¹t mind hearing other¹s opinions and ideas about the general
question of legality, morality, fairness, etc. in today¹s world where its
not only possible but practical to download so much stuff, and put it in
different forms, such as burning DVD¹s.

TIA to you savvy people.

Roses





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