Any computer-savvy internet user these days can log in to any one of hundreds of file sharing networks and get themselves pretty much any piece of music or software that they want. 100% free, but 100% illegal.

Now, I'm no saint, I've bent the law a couple of times in my lifetime, but when it's come to downloading music, I have always made a point of paying for what I download. For one thing, purchasing music legally helps to support the artists and producers that made the music in the first place. If no one paid for any music, there soon wouldn't be an industry left to make the music that we love and look forward to every weekend.

Secondly, by paying for your music, you are guaranteed a high studio-quality version of the track which will sound great on any loud sound system even when turned up loud. If you download music illegally you are never guaranteed a quality 320Kbs mp3 file and the results vary wildly.

Every time you illegally download a piece of music you are stealing. There are no other ways of looking at it. The trouble is, with downloading illegal music, it's a bit like breaking the speed limit. A lot of people do it, it happens every day and a lot of people never get caught.

Reports have shown that as much as 95% of all music downloads is illegal, which is shockingly high.

What we need is a good selection of places where you can download music from for a low cost. And I'm not talking about Global Groove.com here simply because I believe music should be able to be played on any device you choose. Why should I have to buy an iPod or iPhone just to play the music I have purchased?

While writing this article, I have been putting together a DJ mix that incorporates quite a lot of tracks from about 10 years ago and a lot of it was only available on vinyl back then. None of the music I wanted was especially underground and so I thought I would have been able to find it easily to legally download.

I have spent many hours searching for tunes that I am happy to pay for but I can not find it anywhere to legally purchase online. So what are my options? Scour eBay in the hope that someone is selling a CD release of the track I want? Or do I just download it illegally? Even if I do buy the music legally on a CD, when I rip it to an mp3, I am still breaking the law. Then I've found Global Groove.com which is offering many things and you can also Buy Funky House Vinyl or Buy Happy Hardcore Vinyl from Global Groove.com.

What a lot of people do not realize is that its not just illegal to download music from shady websites and peer to peer networks, but it is also illegal to change the format of a piece of music from the original format in which you have purchased. For example, if I Buy Funky House Vinyl or Buy Happy Hardcore Vinyl CD and convert it to mp3 this is illegal. If I Buy Funky House Vinyl or Buy Happy Hardcore Vinyl an mp3 and convert it to a .wav this is illegal. If I buy a vinyl, record it and burn it to a CD this is illegal. It is not just the duplication of music that is forbidden, it is the conversion of medium that is illegal too.

Look at it this way; if you can afford to own a computer, then surely you can afford to spend a pound or less to Buy Funky House Vinyl or Buy Happy Hardcore Vinyl. This applies even more so if you are a working DJ and you are using these tracks to earn a living. How many other professions can you name where you steal your materials before doing your job? It's wrong and it's immoral.