The internet can be dangerous due to illegal websites promoting or allowing illegal activities. Pornography, copyright infringement, and fraudulent websites are common types of illegal sites. The legality of a website depends on the user’s location, with some countries having more restrictions than others.
While the Internet can be a phenomenal tool for education and communications, it can also be a dangerous place. Illegal websites are domains that exist to promote or allow illegal activities or that go against regional laws or government restrictions. Not all websites have the same status in every region; some areas may ban websites containing pornography, for example, which is permitted in other areas.
Pornography websites are often the subject of illegal website crackdowns. There are several ways a pornographic website can be considered illegal, although many operate on a completely legal basis. First, if pornography or a type of pornography is banned by a country, the website may be illegal in that jurisdiction. Child pornography, for example, is illegal in most parts of the world and subject to severe penalties for both creating the pornography and viewing or possessing it, such as by downloading it. Secondly, if a website uses copyrighted material without obtaining the rights, it can be considered illegal and prosecuted for infringement.
Copyright infringement is another major factor in creating illegal websites. Books, films, television programs and images are all subject to copyright laws, which means that the creator or his representatives have the exclusive right to issue copies. File-sharing or bit torrent sites, which allow users to upload personal stuff and download other users’ files, are frequent targets of closure and infringement prosecution. These illegal websites can be difficult to distinguish from legal download sites, but generally legal sites rely on owner distribution, rather than peer-to-peer sharing, of files.
Fraudulent websites are also illegal websites that can quickly make unsuspecting users victims. These sites may sell fake products or offer fraudulent services or be set up as a mirror site of a real website. The goal of most of these websites is to trick users into entering personal information, such as bank account or credit card numbers, which can then be stolen and used. Phishing scams, which send seemingly legitimate emails asking a user to update their information with a company they have an account with, often create this type of website to trick the user into believing that their information they are going to a group instead of scamming thieves.
The legality of the website may depend entirely on the user’s geographic location. In general, countries with less emphasis on freedom of information will have more restrictions on what websites are allowed within their borders. In China, for example, some of the world’s most popular websites, including social networking sites, search engines, and video upload sites, are banned by the government. This can cause complications for travelers who are surprised to find some of their favorite places deemed to be illegal websites, and can even lead to prosecution if a banned site is somehow accessed. Typically, access is difficult to obtain, as regional Internet providers will block the availability of illegal websites throughout their network.
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