The use and sharing of materials found in the Internet has been the subject of much controversy. The technological advances admittedly brought about not only opportunities to gain information but also opportunities to infringe on valid copyrights. It is quite difficult to draw the line between what is legal or not given the wide scope of freedom found in Internet use.

The most often subjects of contention are copyrighted music and movies. Sharing of these among strangers is considered illegal in many jurisdictions. In the US, copying technologies are not considered inherently illegal if substantial non-infringing use can be made of them. At the end of the day, each user is accountable to himself/herself, even in the absence of clear regulations.