Oh the shame of watching shows on my computer.  It is admittedly a guilty pleasure to cue up a site like hulu and play a show in the background while I work, surf, or game.  But when hulu only had teaser clips from several shows, I went in search and found other sources online for watching my favorite episodes.  Here are the results:

I was naturally stunned after receiving the letters above.  Most of the blackouts are the company names or information that could more readily identify me.  The first letter was from a Universal Studios rep telling my Internet Service Provider that I had downloaded a Copyrighted episode of the TV show Psych.  The second letter was from my ISP telling me to read the first letter and obey the law.

The effect on my Internet TV watching was considerable.  I naturally would have avoided copyrighted materials had I realized that they were not being distributed properly.  But with the amount of information available freely on the Internet, how is one to know?  Here’s a list:

Check with the source’s website first.  Especially with TV shows.  If their main site lists certain episodes, the rest are probably only legally available on DVD.

Don’t view videos that have been dubbed or subtitled with foreign languages.

Don’t use peering programs unless you really know what you are doing.  I thought I did.  A certain drummer proved no one is safe when pulling information from peering programs.

Don’t trust the website to know what is legal.  Their goal is to get you to their site and hit you with ads.  

If you do get a letter, like I did, follow the instructions and remember; Big Brother is always watching!