Peer to Peer File Sharing With broadband Internet service becoming more accessible and affordable, there is an ever-growing group of internet users who are looking to exchange files with other users of similar interests. The concept "peer to peer file sharing" became popular when the digital music revolution hit in 1999 and Napster was introduced to the public. When speaking of the digital music revolution, I"m referring to MP3 files. MP3s are digitally encoded songs that have CD quality sound but are relatively small in size. This small file size makes them easy to transfer over the internet. The easy accessibility of these cost free files makes peer to peer file sharing very popular. The general public does not realize that peer to peer file sharing has moved past the exchange of digital music and into other entertainment mediums. Along with MP3 files, movies, video games and books, are also readily available to download for free on the internet. A person just needs know is where to look on the web and now with peer to peer file sharing it's easier than ever. All of these media types and more can be found through one easy to use program. One may find movies, sometimes before they are even released in the theater. It is possible to download episodes of your favorite television shows, books, audio books in MP3 format, magazines, video games and computer software. Unfortunately, due to the current copyright laws, these shared files appear to be illegal in nature if you do not own the original material. Napster, a peer to peer file sharing program for MP3 files, experienced legal problems in just six short months of being in service. The lawsuit brought on by the Recording Industry Association of America is still yet to be settled. With more users than America Online, Napster is by far the most commonly used peer to peer file sharing program. The program works by making a connection to Napster's central computers and automatically uploading a personal list of MP3 files that are on your hard drive.
