If you were computer conscious in the 1990s, you probably remember these often laughable but inevitably highly dangerous e-mails that would come in with amazing regularity from Nigeria, which was at that time, one of Africa’s richest countries.  At that time of considerable security upheaval in the country, it became a common fact that the government had decided to freeze international bank accounts of the families and friends of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.  The e-mails would come from individuals who were  claiming to be  family members  of the dictator himself or high ranking members of his government who were no longer with us, and who had left  millions of dollars  in Swiss bank accounts so that the Nigerian authorities could not get their greedy hands on it. All that was required was to pay  a few dollars for the information on how the fund and those successful in releasing it, could earn a finders of fee of 15% of the sum, which could add up to a few hundred thousand dollars, pounds or whatever. Needless to say no one ever saw the finder’s fee, as the money never existed.

Luckily all but a very stupid or very greedy few fell victim to this highly unsophisticated scam, known as an “advance fee fraud,” However the proceeds must have been well invested because over the years Nigeria has become a mini world center for phishing scams, some of them fairly sophisticated, using fake sites that steal e-mail login information and send distress calls to contacts.

Nigerian phishers are reported to have focused their attention on the social-networking sites to find potential victims for their advance fee scams evolved targeting the more naive people that might use instant messaging and online social networks and seem to be more likely to answer such a call

The Nigerian Government’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are well aware of the bad reputation that they have built up over the years and in 2009 launched an awareness campaign to warn citizens of the country of the bad reputation they were earning Nigeria and the punishment that would be meted out to those caught in such nefarious activities. The EFCC also conducted raids on cybercafés in Lagos and other Nigerian cities, and made a few arrests, but the problem has not only not been solved it appears to have gotten worse.

 In one of the latest scams, e-mail accounts have been compromised and messages are sent to everyone on the contacts list, saying that e-mail account owner has been the victim of a robbery in Nigeria needs money to sort out local expense before they can fly home.  Needless to say, someone with the right anti-virus software in place need never fall victim to a Nigerian phishing scam.

This article was provide by http://www.mcafee-downloads.co.uk/ 

Tags: Anti Virus, Digital Download Products, Mcafee, Phishing Scams, Spam, Trojan Horses, Viruses

It may be difficult to believe but Napster has been around now for more than a decade. A lot has happened in that decade, to the internet as well as to the music industry, and you can even say that Napster is responsible for some interesting developments in both. One thing for sure is that when a young university student named Shawn Fanning first thought of the Napster he had no idea where it might lead. Most people believe that his idea was pretty innocent, and all that the young Fanning wanted to do was to allow thousands of people who had legally downloaded their favourite music to their hard discs to share it with others. Little did anyone would realise how popular the idea would become, and the shockwaves that it would cause throughout the music industry, who claimed, and it appears rightly, that file sharing was illegal, because it was depriving them with the royalties that they needed to earn to fuel future investments and to pay the artists.  

Eventually the Napster issue hit the courts with Fanning and his representatives complaining that they were merely acting as brokers without charge and that the actual file sharing was taking place between people who were not part of the Napster network. However what shot their argument in the foot was the discovery that Napster had stored eight million songs on their servers, and had paid little or no royalties on them.

Napster lost their case and had to close down their website, but in their short life they had changed forever how people looked upon the internet and copyright issues. The music industry were also alive to the fact that change had to come, and the approached the people who had taken over Napster after Fanning with a very clever offer, and one that is regarded as being the ideal compromise situation.   

The compromise was that Napster would pay $10 million in damages, which would be apportioned to the various music publishers whose songs Napster still held in the drivers, as well as a form of royalty for the use of the songs in the future.  That meant that Napster’s activities are not only entirely legal but also the leading source for legally downloadable music anywhere in the World. 

Through Napster’s UK subsidiary the public can listen to any of the ten million tracks that Napster hold for just £5.00 a month. In a classic everybody wins situation, and one that is regarded as a precedent for other downloading sites for the future.

Tags: Digital Download Products, Downloading music, Music Piracy, Napster, napster music downloads

Most people like to listen to music, in some form or other. It can be very soothing to have music play in the background when working, or driving along in the car or just while chilling out at home. There are a lot of people for whom each song is a memory and they want the ability to call up that memory whenever they want.

That’s why people collect music and have been doing so for half a century or more. It began with records, tapes and moved on to CD’s at the beginning of the digital revolution. CD was a breakthrough, coming in various formulas that improved the quality of sound considerably. However music lovers were still faced with a familiar problem, not every track on the CD’s was on their list of favourites. So music lovers began to download the CDs on to the hard discs and burning their favourite tracks onto their own personal compilation CDs.

Soon the idea began to catch on and somehow or other, the word got around and people began to exchange their favourite tracks online through e-mails. It was in 1998, that a young computer programmer called Shawn Fanning heard about this “file sharing” and in total innocence decided that he should set up an online meeting place where people could share their music. Shawn’s idea proved to be tremendous success and pretty soon millions of people were using his web site, which he called Napster to exchange tracks.

Fanning was unaware that Napster would cause such controversy as well as breaking quite a few laws. After a court decided that Napster was an illegal entity and he was obliged to close it down just three years after it has begun trading.  Napster in its original and illegal format, during the three years or so that it traded, did show what the public wanted more than anything else that had come previously. They did not want to but CDs with tracks that they didn’t know or like. They also didn’t want to take the risk of downloading illegal tracks, or ones that had been infested by viruses. What they did want was to listen to music of their choice, at home, at work or in transit, 

Nowadays the new and completely legal Napster, act as a file sharing service offering an extensive music catalogue for unlimited listening for just £5.00 a month.  . The total range of Napster tracks now numbers no less than eight million, meaning that there is something there for everybody, and anyone can feel good about listening to their music thanks to Napster UK.

Tags: Downloading music, legal music source, Music Downloads, Music Piracy, Napster, napster music downloads

Since Napster went “legit” much has been said about the pluses and minuses of taking out a subscription to the company. Let’s be honest, music lovers were spoiled by the concept of the original Napster where file sharing became a new piece of phraseology in the internet vocabulary. That it didn’t work in the long term and brought with it too many problems is something that has been long since chronicled.

In the last few years since Napster began opeartig in its new format, tens of thousands of music lovers have discovered the advantages of downloading specicific  tracks or even an entire collection. The prices they will pay are still a lot less than through a high street retailer. However many more are attracted to the idea of online music subscriptions, where listeners are allowed unlimited access to millions of songs on the Napster music archives. 

The main benefit of a music subscription is that the listener is able to instantly have a collection of thousands of songs, without spending thousands of dollars. This music can be listened to on a PC, or played on a compatible home audio system, phone or mp3 player. The listener can create multiple track lists for various occasions. Some services also give the subscriber some MP3 tracks each month that can be kept after the subscription ends.

However, online music subscriptions may have drawbacks for some listeners. Using these services can be compared to “renting” music. The music is streamed, and therefore most of the songs do not become the property of the listener. The streamed music can not be burned to CD’s. When the subscriber stops paying the monthly fee, they will lose all any music that has been downloaded through the service.

Subscription music site are not for those who want to a lasting music collecting. In this case each MP3 must be paid for, although some free download sites are available. Other sites may give listeners free music downloads for supporting a cause.

Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is urging his fellow musicians to stop

to stream thousands for songs for a small fee each month. These songs can be played on a variety of MP3 devices. However, subscribers can not keep these songs unless they continue to pay a monthly fee. Rhapsody.com and Napster.com are two of the most trusted sites for music downloads,

Tags: Downloading music, legal music source, Music Downloads, Music Piracy, Napster, napster music downloads

The digital music scene has changed the habits of those who enjoy listening to music, and not just the kids. Today anyone can access their favourite music and for a few pennies a track. At one time, there were LPs, EPs and later CDs. These things took up an awful lot of space, gathered a lot of dust and were difficult to keep track of what was on them. Single discs were OK in the days of the old fashioned record player, but the most you can stack on top of each other on your old record player was maybe three or four. Inevitably they would fall and one would get scratched, and it was only good after that for being made into an ashtray. LPs were less problematic in that way but, apart from a few notable exceptions, only about one out of three of the tracks were worth listening to, and truth be told, CDs were much of the same.

That is is probably why when Napster first appeared on the scene, they were so popular. Music lovers could download all their favourite tracks and transfer them to portable devices  to listen to them in the  car or at home, in fact everywhere they needed to be. The problem was that the music industry took exception to the concept of  file sharing, and if it was allowed to continue would eventually signal the death of the music industry.

Downloading music began to be regarded as  a serious offence, causing  the people whose concept Napster was to temporarily withdraw their service and regroup. They were well aware of the  tremendous demand for easy access music  and began friendly discussions with the music publishers to see if a compromise situation could be reached. Thankfully it was and today  less than ten years later Napster is not only entirely legal but has become the World’s largest online record library,

Music lovers can now take a subscription that averages  £5.00  a, month ( if paid quarterly in advance) or £7.00 if paid monthly. For that sum, subscribers to Napster UK can take advantage of on-demand streaming of the 10 million tracks in the Napster catalogue, all legal and virus free,

This has proved to be a win-win situation for everyone concerned, and signals an end to CD racks, album tracks and vinyl records spread out across the floor. 

Tags: Digital Download Products, Downloading music, Music, Napster, napster music downloads

In the early days of the internet, there were many grey areas, and one of the grays was the legality of downloading music or “file-sharing” as it was known in those days. File sharing seemed like a good idea, as it entailed someone who owned a particularly pleasant piece of music sharing it with their friends. The problems began when these files began to appear online and the numbers of people “sharing” each song reached the tens of thousands, and the music industry began to feel the pinch. Not only that, but some of the less scrupulous people who began to frequent these sites, as well as sharing music, began to share some particularly powerful viruses with their fellow surfers.

It was obvious that this situation couldn’t continue, and pretty soon, the courts decided that “file-sharing” was illegal and had to end, and the public also reached the conclusion that the risk of downloading viruses and malware didn’t justify getting a free song or two.

From this situation, the new, completely revamped and totally legal Napster rose from the ashes, and the public loved the idea. In May 2009, Napster began to offer their services to the UK public, and it’s fair to say that this new music concept has captured their imagination.

 The new Napster now allows subscribers to listen legally on demand to more than ten million full-length, CD quality tracks, after agreements in the UK with all five major record companies – BMG, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music International, and Warner Music International – as well as independent labels body AIM was reached.

No less than ten interactive and advert-free Napster radio stations allow listeners to see which song is coming next, skip forward or jump back – with favourites easily added to their Napster library with one click. Napster can even build subscribers their own custom radio station on the fly simply by selecting three songs they like. Napster’s rich community features allow subscribers to browse each others’ play lists and even share songs among other Napster users.

This means that instead of having all the hassle of downloading, cataloguing and storing all of their favourite music tracks, a Napster subscriber, for around five pounds a month can readily access all of their favourite tracks, and let Napster worry about where to store them.  Included in the £5.00 monthly package is the ability to download and keep three of your favourite tracks every month. Nowadays the new and squeaky clean Napster has all the benefits.

This article was provided by http://www.napster-music-download.co.uk

Tags: Music, Music Downloads, Napster, napster music downloads

German web browsers were reported as being confused and uncertain about their internet security after the German government issued a warning about security issues on the Firefox web browsing software. The warning came from a cyber-security response team, discovered a critical vulnerability in the that if breached would  hackers to distribute  freely  distribute malware through the most recent  3.6 version of  Firefox Older versions  are not vulnerable to the flaw.

Confusion reigned as browsers, who had recently been advised by the German government to switch to Firefox just a month ago after the German government issued a warning against surfing with Internet Explorer, after vulnerability caused a wave of Cyber attacks that reached web sites around the globe.  After that warning reports have it that just over 300,000 German computer owners downloaded Firefox on one weekend alone.

At the time a number of internet security analysts expressed their doubts about the need to switch browsers every time such an attack took place, with a number even suggesting that Firefox might not be an invulnerable as the German government seemed to think. And as the events of the last few days show, they have proven to be correct.

In the meantime Mozilla who produce Firefox have suggested that Firefox followers should upgrade to the Firefox 3.6.2 version which is  still in its Beta format  and due to be released at the end of March, or wait till they rush-release a patch that will seal the breach.

Analysts have suggested that it would not be wise to switch to another browser or even an older version of Firefox but instead to hang off till the security update becomes available.”

Firefox was reported to be not immediately available for comment on the situation other than to say that the patch that is being produced to protect against cross-platform vulnerability a week will now be released a week ahead of schedule.

This tragic-comic situation once again illustrates how important it is to have the most powerful anti-virus software available installed to protect computers and their owners from this relentless wave of virus attacks.

This article has been provided by Mcafee Downloads For More Information on protecting ypur data visit Mcafee Downloads

Tags: Cyber attacks, cyber-security, Firefox, Internet Explorer, virus attacks

It’s not every day that you can say that something was an “overnight sensation” but when Napster hit the fledgling internet scene it certainly was one of them. The concept of music sharing was certainly very innovative and seemed even innocent. If you have a nice song that you liked to listen to, why not share that experience with others. Napster provided that platform and it turned out that there were millions who were just waiting to leap on it.

Unfortunately, like many other overnight sensations, in the cold light of dawn Napster was seen to have no small amount of wrinkles and warts. First of all the music companies and artists hated it, as it was depriving them of income and royalties. On the other hand, computer hackers loved Napster and all these millions of downloads and uploads proved an ideal vehicle for transferring all kinds of viruses to unprotected computers all over the world.  

Napster in its “illegal” framework could not continue, and the courts decided after a long and drawn out legal battle that music sharing in Napster mode was basically a breach of copyright and subsequently a criminal offence. And just to show that they weren’t playing any games, a number of “music lovers” who didn’t take courts at their word and continued to deal in pirated music found themselves “guests” of various governments around the World.  

The people behind Napster quickly got the message and closed down their website to review their position. They were still very aware that there was a tremendous demand for easy access downloadable music, and that the public would pay money to access it, and not necessarily download it. Downloading music means paying for it, and listening to music means that the track is not your property but you can still enjoy access to it for a minimal fee. That was the principal that brought the new Napster and music industry together and has made Napster the World’s largest reservoirs of digital music.  . 

Napster  have now an offshoot in the UK,  offering  around unlimited streaming from their ten million plus catalogue of songs to suit very taste as well as the chance to legally download five MP 3 tracks a month for just £5.00.

 The arrangement that Napster succeeded in working out with the music industry and the understanding of the global music loving public that there are no free lunches has proved to be an example of a situation where everybody wins, except of course the spam hackers who have long since moved on in search of  their ill gotten gains.

When Thinking about music Downloads thing Do It Legally www.napster-music-download.co.uk  Get 5 free MPs each month with membership Sign up Now and Get 3 months for the Price Of 2

Tags: Digital Download Products, Downloading music, legal music source, Music Downloads, Napster

Like Facebook and Twitter of today, Napster was a bit of a trailblazer in its day. Yet unlike these two current media superstars, there was a problem with Napster, and that was that they service they provided was basically illegal and for that reason was eventually closed down.  But not before they set an industry trend that was so original that it had to be continued, and it was only right that the people whose vision Napster was would be the ones who would continue to develop the company and its services and take it to the heights of international success that it would achieve at international levels.

The original Napster began its online presence in 1999, Founded by two university students named Shawn  Fanning and, Sean Parker, their concept was an immediate success, Fanning’s idea was to allow  the millions of people who had music on their hard discs to share it with others.  Fanning and Parker claim that they had no idea that what they were doing was illegal, the simply thought that they would provide a service, initially without earning any money, that would allow these millions of songs to be shared with others.  The Napster site grew so popular, that it was possible to locate even the most obscure music file using its user-friendly interface, which soon began to contain lots of advertising links to justify Fanning and Parkers hard work and vision.

Soon Napster discovered that their idea was not to be very well accepted by the vast international music companies such as Sonny, Universal Studio and the Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) who between them owned the copyrights on millions of songs, going back fifty tears and more.  These companies were dead against this free file saving concept and they used the full weight of the law to force Napster to cease and desist from their file sharing exploits, and with no time to be wasted.  Napster contested that they were merely holder of a huge directory and that the actual file transfers were taking place between computers that were not part of the Napster network, The fact that Napster were also holding more than eight million songs in stock, with the bulk of them also being illegally transferred was the fact that lost Napster the case.  

Big business  won their case and in less than two years from when they made their first online appearance, Napster were not only forced to cease broadcasting online, but also were bound to pay music creators and copyright owners a $26 million settlement for their  past and is it now transpired  unauthorized uses of music. What they also agreed to do was to pay a $10 million advance against future licensing royalties of the music they had downloaded.

That $10 million proved to be money very well spent and now Napster is not only entirely legal also has remained the World’s largest company for downloading music. 

Now you can download MP3s for a nominal fee as well as listen to any of the ten million tracks that Napster hold through their UK subsidiary.

Napster UK now offers unlimited streaming as well the opportunity to download five legal MP 3 tracks for just £5.00 a month. For people who are just joining Napster and agree to pay the first two months e will get the third month free. Knowing that you can legally download music of your choice as well keeping the music industry alive and well has to be worth that.

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Tags: Digital Download Products, Facebook, legal music source, Music, Music Downloads, Music Piracy, Napster, Twitter

It wasn’t that long ago that anyone who dared to mention the word, Napster in the company of a recording artist or a music production company was liable to get struck over the head by a gold disc. The frenzy when the public discovered that they could download just about all of their favourite songs for free was tremendous. What they didn’t know at the time was as they were downloading all that “free” music they were also downloading the forerunners of some of the most powerful computer viruses that ever walked this planet.

The presence of Napster and those like them on the scene caused tremendous damage to the record companies as well as the talented artists who provided the songs. This was obviously a situation that could not continue, and eventually became, and still remains, a criminal offence to download music. The court systems of the World saw downloading music as a serious offence, and several people who didn’t take the warnings seriously and continues to download pirated music found themselves behind bars.

The record companies won their victory and Napster as well as their competitors in the pirate music industry saw the writing on the wall and withdrew their service.

Such was the demand for easy access downloadable music that Napster raised like a phoenix from the ashes; Today Napster is not only entirely legal but has become the World’s largest company for downloading music. 

Most people don’t like to steal, and the compromise in the music industry that allows the public to listen to music without having to pay for it has made for a total legitimisation of downloading music, a situation that 99% of the players involved in the scenario feel comfortable with. Today it is possible to download MP3s for a nominal fee and play them in your car, your mobile telephone and even on your computer.

Napster UK have pulled out a lot of stops to be the most competitive against their main rivals, which today are iTunes owned by Apple in the United States  and the European based Spotify.  ITunes are selling songs individually at around 80 pence for the latest hits, although they do claim that they can go as low as 50 pence for the older classics. Spotify, who claim that they have over five million tracks in their library are also selling MP3 tracks at around 65 pence, across the board.

Napster UKs offer is based around unlimited streaming as well as five MP 3 tracks for just £5.00 a month. For new members that pay the first two months free will get the third month free. That means 15 tracks for £10.00 or 66 pence a track, from a choice of eight million tracks. It’s hard to argue with these figures as well as the knowledge that you can download the music of your choice without risk and in the knowledge that you are playing you part in keeping the industry alive. 

It wasn’t that long ago that anyone who dared to mention the word, Napster in the company of a recording artist or a music production company was liable to get struck over the head by a gold disc. The frenzy when the public discovered that they could download just about all of their favourite songs for free was tremendous. What they didn’t know at the time was as they were downloading all that “free” music they were also downloading the forerunners of some of the most powerful computer viruses that ever walked this planet.

The presence of Napster and those like them on the scene caused tremendous damage to the record companies as well as the talented artists who provided the songs. This was obviously a situation that could not continue, and eventually became, and still remains, a criminal offence to download music. The court systems of the World saw downloading music as a serious offence, and several people who didn’t take the warnings seriously and continues to download pirated music found themselves behind bars.

The record companies won their victory and Napster as well as their competitors in the pirate music industry saw the writing on the wall and withdrew their service.

Such was the demand for easy access downloadable music that Napster raised like a phoenix from the ashes; Today Napster is not only entirely legal but has become the World’s largest company for downloading music. 

Most people don’t like to steal, and the compromise in the music industry that allows the public to listen to music without having to pay for it has made for a total legitimisation of downloading music, a situation that 99% of the players involved in the scenario feel comfortable with. Today it is possible to download MP3s for a nominal fee and play them in your car, your mobile telephone and even on your computer.

Napster UK have pulled out a lot of stops to be the most competitive against their main rivals, which today are iTunes owned by Apple in the United States  and the European based Spotify.  ITunes are selling songs individually at around 80 pence for the latest hits, although they do claim that they can go as low as 50 pence for the older classics. Spotify, who claim that they have over five million tracks in their library are also selling MP3 tracks at around 65 pence, across the board.

Napster UKs offer is based around unlimited streaming as well as five MP 3 tracks for just £5.00 a month. For new members that pay the first two months free will get the third month free. That means 15 tracks for £10.00 or 66 pence a track, from a choice of eight million tracks. It’s hard to argue with these figures as well as the knowledge that you can download the music of your choice without risk and in the knowledge that you are playing you part in keeping the industry alive.

When Thinking about music Downloads thing Do It Legally www.napster-music-download.co.uk. Get 5 free MPs each month with membership Sign up Now and Get 3 months for the Price Of 2

Tags: Digital Download Products, Downloading music, Music, Music Piracy, Napster