There's free and then there's FREE free...

Copyright is clearly an issue when it comes to finding information online and elsewhere. Teenagers are being sued for downloading music, people are put in prison for recording movies in movie theatres and then selling them on DVD, libraries post warning signs that copying too much of anything is a copyright infringement.

In response, two credible websites (and more everyday) have been created to provide information that is openly available without fear of an FBI vist. Both feature text, audio, video, books, etc. The quality ranges from professional work to amateur writings, from the popular to the completely obscure.

http://www.archive.org/index.php - The Internet Archive is a fascinating site that is attempting to archive the World Wide Web but also features all sorts of data. In one day the library staff went from watching a Bryan Adams concert to reviewing a book from the 1800s about mollusks.

http://creativecommons.org/ - The Creative Commons. The world does not operate in black and white. The Creative Commons approaches copyright with an understanding of this. The levels of copyright vary on this site...you can just watch or listen, you can use for school, you can download and share, you can download then share then remix and repost...you get it. Better yet, here's their explaination:

Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.

Find funny, unique, odd, and/or informational items on both sites. Enjoy!