Usually, when you read an article that tells you to stay away from online bootleg movie downloads, the article simply attempts to deter you and leave you with no alternatives. The fact of the matter is that there are alternatives. Not only that, but there are also legal alternatives. Read further to learn about how you can watch online bootleg movie downloads, without leaving a trail of illegal activity.

Streamed Movies

Numerous websites currently list online bootleg movie downloads, which you can view right on their site, without signing up to anything or creating an account. These movies are not hosted on the actual site. In order to avoid direct copyright infringement, these sites upload the videos in flash format to other sites such as Google Video or YouTube and then link to the uploaded video from the main site. The problem with these videos is that they are periodically erased from the site they were uploaded to. Google as well as other websites, has a staff working on the removal of material in violation of copyrights. Every so often, once the movie has been removed, the main site will upload it again. It's basically a never ending game of tag.

Additionally, since these videos are in flash (.flv) format, the quality is reduced due to the file conversion. Flash video does not support high resolution in order to be easily streamed online. Another point to take into account is the fact that despite the amount of movies these sites claim to stream, most of the movies on these sites have already been deleted from their actual locations. Despite the diminished level of reliability, watching streamed movies presents the lowest threat as far as watching bootlegs.

Free Movie Downloads

Numerous movies and television shows can be viewed online legally with complete copyright cooperation. Websites such as IMDB (Internet Movie Database) and others, offer numerous streaming videos on their sites. Since these sites operate legally and allow you to view their videos for free, they do not have movies that are currently in the theater. A good rule of thumb is if it is still in the box office, then it is probably illegal to view outside of the box office.

Paid Movie Downloads

Despite the fact that you are most likely searching for free resources, you should still take into account paid movie downloads. Usually these sites will charge a flat one time membership fee and then grant you unlimited access to their archives. Paid movie download sites offer millions of movie downloads and their quality is much better then what you will get with streamed video. In most cases, the movie downloads from paid sites are in DVD format and usually include the menu and chapter selections as well. If you are planning on building up your DVD collection, then this is the best way to go.

The reason these sites are able operate legally is simply due to the fact that their one time fee helps pay for copyright agreements. When you purchase a DVD at the store, you also pay for the box, the DVD, the advertising, and the shipping. If you are simply downloading the file, then the majority of the DVD cost is eliminated. These sites will usually charge about $50, but if you take into account the cost of 300 plus DVDs that you may download, you are really just paying for initial access and getting the movies for free.