P2P 101
I had about the hundredth person ask me how to get started in p2p file sharing. This is the email I sent them.

The places to get the software are either Edonkey, or Emule. One or the other. You don't need both. I recommend Emule. Once you install the software you can go to the following sites and find links that will help you download what you are looking for. This is a place called Edonkey help. It is a link to other Edonkey sites. Share Provider is a good place for movies, but they have allot of adult stuff. I don't know what you are into, but you are going to run into allot of that. Sorry. =] These are a couple of places that concentrate on TV shows. For music, start by clicking on search in the program and type in the name of the band you are looking for. Also try "discography". It is difficult to find specific artists sometimes. For searches outside of the program I recommend FileDonkey. They have more specific files. The things you get there have been at least looked at by some one else. Over all, I have to say that p2p is highly unreliable. You have to be willing to put up with some really annoying people, and some porn getting in the way of what you are looking for. Consider yourself warned. Have fun.

Other Software
I also warned them to stay away from Kazaa and Morpheus. They are far too riddled with spy ware. There are dozens of Kazaa like software packages.
Bittorrent
There is also this thing called Bittorrent. The real Bittorrent software is kind of lame. I recommend Azureus.  It is Java based. Bittorrent is a different animal. You cannot search Bittorrent directly. You must find a web page that has the link to the file you are looking for and click on it there. You can also share your own files on Bittorrent. Some people use it to distribute files that they cannot put on an FTP site or for their blog.
Legal
You know,  several crimes have been committed at night.  Maybe they should outlaw darkness. The most effective tools in crime are also the most effective tools in every day life. For example, cars, phones, crow-bars, all have legitimate use and criminal use.
My Experience
When the tsunami happened the day after Christmas this year, the only place I could find videos as they came in was p2p. I could not find much on the news sites. I've used Bittorrent to download Linux distributions, and other software. Now blogs use P2P software to publish video files that they could never support otherwise.  P2p has it's legitimate uses.
Really Useful Information

Sources, Formats And Scene Tags How To Burn A Dvd To Dvd-r Guide to Using the Files You've Downloaded Total burning guide. File Sharing Talk