Blog: P2P

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File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media with others. Peer to Peer (P2P) filesharing or networking is the sharing of information from different "peers" which are computer systems that are connected to each other via the internet. People can share files instantaneously through the network because it is each "peer" is a file server as well as a client. This uncontrolled sharing of files and information can often lead to piracy which is the unauthorized use or reproduction of another person's work. One of the most successful P2P programs ever created is BitTorrent created by Bram Cohen. BitTorrent allowed people all over the world to upload huge data files and share them with others. People can illegally download television shows, movies, music, games, etc., completely for free. People can find different torrents on different sites. One very popular torrent site is The Pirate Bay. There have been many instances of people uploading and sharing new movies online which causes a lot of problems for the company that produces and releases the movie. According to the article The BitTorrent Effect by Clive Thompson, "Unlike TV networks, movie studios get no revenue from advertising - getting massive online circulation won't put a penny in their box offices. For them, it seems like an open-and-shut case. They ran advertisements urging users not to download movies illegally; when that didn't work, they started suing." Movie studios are not receiving any sort of revenue from torrents so when millions decide to download movies for free, it creates a huge problem for the movie studios because the people who work hard to create the movie are not receiving the credit they deserve. In addition, music is also constantly being torrented. A recent example of leaked and torrented music was Kanye West's Yandhi album. Yandhi was expected to be released on September 29, but somebody leaked it to the public before the completion of the album which most likely led to Kanye West's decision to completely scrap the project and move into a different direction relating to the album. His new album was titled Jesus Is King which incorporated a lot of gospel influence and changing some songs from the Yandhi album to give it a more gospel sound. If lawsuits are not enough to stop people from pirating copyrighted material, there will be nothing to stop people from consistently reproducing copyrighted material for others with no charge. The practice of sharing copyrighted material is not legal or ethical, but since it exists on the internet, there is no stopping people from sharing copyrighted material. Laws do not always protect people's work online, so it is important to keep works secret, but it is easier said than done.


Comments

  1. Connie ZhangNovember 20, 2019 at 10:42 AM

    Hi Thomas,

    In regards to the illegal sharing of copyrighted material, I agree with your idea that there is no stopping people from sharing or using it. Though unethical, people continue to do it simply because it is free and if given the option to not pay, most will usually opt out of paying. There just exists too many platforms where illegal content exists for it to be all taken down. Moreover, the people posting it could distort the audio slightly for it to remain undetected. Even though streaming and downloading of the shared files could be illegal, it is likely that we have all done it once.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steven KDecember 11, 2019 at 7:26 AM

    Hi Thomas,

    It really is easier said than done. Some people will do anything to not pay for anything and there is no stopping them. Because of these actions as you said it creates huge problems for movie studios, tv networks, and musicians when it comes to their material. These illegal and unethical action need to be stopped, but how is the real question.

    ReplyDelete

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