As for the safety of downloading, it depends on several factors. One is, of course the site. Foundries that charge or provide shareware are likely to be safer than some (not all) that are totally free.
One thing I look at in any download site is the number and types of ads that support the site. You can develop a feel for the kind that might deliver malware. Another thing to look at is the name of the outfit; an established name likely being safe. But the real key to safety is how you protect yourself.
The internet can be hazardous even if you don?t download? It just becomes more hazardous if you do.
The protections you need have been discussed many times in these forums. Basically, the minimum is a good antivirus program, about three different anti-spyware programs, an anti-Trojan, and a firewall. It is important that they be kept up-to-date, and routinely used. Hope this helps. If this statement were true, then it would not be safe to download upgrades to your OS or AV database, any of the fine shareware and freeware programs, etc.? Actually, there are many safe sites that I would not hesitate to use for downloads -- including Cnet's own download.com. While the fonts supplied in Word will suffice for much general purpose word processing use (e.g., writing letters and documents), especially in English and other European languages, these fonts are deficient in many other areas.
Variety is lacking in fonts for languages such as Greek, Cyrillic, the Semitic languages, etc. And as I said in my earlier post, there are also hundreds or thousands of other fonts of interest to graphics artists, ad writers, scholars, and others with interests that go beyond mere letter writing. I do agree that if a site gratuitously offers to download a fort -- or emotocons, or an anti-malware program, or a browser aid, or almost anything else -- you should shun it; these are common sources of Trojans. But going out to legitimate foundry sites to find a special font you need or want is an entirely different matter You musn't let paranoia destroy your interests here or in other areas involving downloads.