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See Shared Resource for the conventional meaning of file sharing File sharing is the practice of making File s available for other users to download over the Internet and smaller Networks . Usually file sharing follows the Peer-to-peer (P2P) model, where the files are stored on and served by personal computers of the users. Most people who engage in file sharing are also downloading files that other users share. Usually these two activities are linked together. P2P file sharing is distinct from file trading in that downloading files from a P2P network does not require uploading, although some networks either provide incentives for uploading such as credits or force the sharing of files being currently downloaded. THE FIRST P2P-GENERATION: SERVER-CLIENT The first generation of peer-to-peer file sharing networks had a centralized file list. Ultimately, Napster was held liable even if it used the most advanced technology available to identify works copyright holders had asked it to block, because no technology that can identify works with 100% certainty exists. Napster still exists today, but as a subsidiary of Roxio after they bought the name during the original Napster's bankruptcy phase, continues to operate today, and is now legally distributing music under a subscription-based model. In the centralized peer-to-peer model, a user would send a search to the centralized server of what they were looking for, that is, a song, video, or movie. The server then sends back a list of which peers have the data and facilitates the connection and download. The first file sharing programs marked themselves by inquiries to a server, either the data to the Download held ready or in appropriate different Peer s and so-called Node s further-obtained, so that one could download there. Best example was Napster (today a Payment offerer) or EDonkey2000 in the server version (today likewise with Overnet and KAD - network decentralized). Web based sharing Webhosting for file sharing is also used. Since it is possible to exchange privately and in small communities popular files can be distributed very quickly and efficiently. Web hosters are independent from each other, therefore contents are not distributed further. Other terms for this are one-click hosting and web based sharing. Server-client-protocols
THE SECOND P2P-GENERATION: DECENTRALIZATION After Napster encountered legal troubles, Justin Frankel of Nullsoft set out to create a network without a central index server, and Gnutella was the result. Unfortunately, the Gnutella model of all nodes being equal quickly died from bottlenecks as the network grew from incoming Napster refugees. FastTrack solved this problem by having some nodes be 'more equal than others'. By electing some higher capacity nodes to be indexing nodes, with lower capacity nodes branching off from them, FastTrack allowed for a network that could scale to a much larger size. Gnutella quickly adopted this model, and most current peer-to-peer networks implement this design, as it allows for large and efficient networks without central servers. Also included in the second generation are Distributed Hash Table s (DHTs), which help solve the scalability problem by electing various nodes to index certain hashes (which are used to identify files), allowing for fast and efficient searching for any instances of a file on the network. This is not without drawbacks; perhaps most significantly, DHTs do not directly support keyword searching (as opposed to exact-match searching). The best examples are Gnutella , Kazaa or EMule with Kademlia , whereby Kazaa has still a central server for logging in. EDonkey2000 / Overnet , Gnutella, FastTrack and Ares Galaxy have summed up approx. 10.3 million users (as of April 2006, according to slyck.com). This number not necessarily corresponds to the actual number of persons who use these networks; it must be assumed that some use multiple clients for different networks. The number of BitTorrent users cannot be measured directly, however, there should be more users than of EDonkey2000 and that's why providers try to restrict the BitTorrent traffic first. One must also understand that number of users indicated by software applies only to users which are active at this moment. Multi-Network-Clients eDonkey2000 - Network Gnutella - Network
BitTorrent - Network
See also: Comparison Of BitTorrent Software FastTrack - Network
Further networks or clients
THE THIRD P2P-GENERATION: INDIRECT AND ENCRYPTED See Also: Anonymous P2P The third generation of peer-to-peer networks are those that have Anonymity features built in. Examples of anonymous networks are ANts P2P , RShare , Freenet , I2P , GNUnet and Entropy . A degree of anonymity is realized by routing traffic through other users clients, which have the function of network Nodes .This makes it harder for someone to identify who is downloading or who is offering files. Most of these programs also have strong encryption to resist traffic sniffing. Friend-to-friend networks only allow already known users (also known as "friends") to connect to your computer, then each Node can forward requests and files anonymously between its own "friends" nodes. Third generation networks have not reached mass usage for file sharing because most current implementations incur too much overhead in their anonymity features, making them slow or hard to use. An example might be: Petra gives a file to Oliver, then Oliver gives the file to Anna. Petra and Anna thus never become acquainted and thus are protected. Virtual IP addresses are also often used, further obfuscating the user's network location. Additionally all transfers are encrypted, so that even the network administrators cannot see what was sent to whom. Example software includes WASTE, JetiANts, Tor and I2P. These clients differ greatly in their goals and implementation. WASTE is designed only for small groups and may therefore be considered Darknet , ANts and I2P are public Peer to Peer systems, with anonymization provided exclusively by routing reach. Waste network Ants network Mute network I2P network Retroshare-Network (F2F Instant Messenger)
other networks or clients THE FOURTH P2P-GENERATION: STREAMS OVER P2P Apart from the traditional file sharing there are services that send streams instead of files over a P2P network. Thus one can hear radio and watch television without any server involved -- the streaming media is distributed over a P2P network. It is important that instead of a treelike network structure, a Swarming technology known from BitTorrent is used. Best examples are Peercast , Cybersky and Demo TV . General Tree structure Swarm structure such as Bittorrent LEGAL AND COPYRIGHT ISSUES See Also: File sharing and the law File sharing grew in popularity with the proliferation of high speed Internet connections, relatively small file size and high-quality MP3 audio format. Although file sharing is a legal technology with legal uses, many users use it to download and upload copyrighted materials without permission, which can be Copyright Infringement if done without authorization for improper purposes. Despite the existence of various International Treaties , there are still sufficient variations between countries to cause significant difficulties in the protection of Intellectual Property . This has led to attacks against file sharing in general from many copyright owners and litigation by industry bodies against private individual sharers. The legal issues surrounding file sharing have been the subject of debate and conferences, especially among lawyers in the entertainment industries. {Link without Title} The challenges facing copyright holders in the face of file sharing systems are quite novel historically and have highlighted many new challenges in both theory and practice:
Further challenges have arisen because of the need to balance self-protection against . PUBLIC PERCEPTION According to a poll, 75% of young voters in Sweden (18-20), support filesharing, even if it's illegal. When presented to the statement: 38% said they "adamantly agreed" while 39% said they "partly agreed". {Link without Title} ATTACKS ON PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS Many peer-to-peer networks are under constant attack by people with a variety of motives. Examples include:
RISKS Some file sharing software comes bundled with programs. Such programs can often remove malware without influencing the functionality of the file sharing software. Some are also concerned about the use of file sharing systems to distribute adult Pornography to children, Child Pornography to anyone, inflammatory literature, and illegal or "unpopular" material. Novice users may find it difficult to obtain information on which networks, if any, are "safe" for them to use. With experience, users can reduce their exposure to offensive material by structuring their searches carefully. (For example, a search limited to audio filetypes avoids exposure to video and image files.) It has been suggested that one must actively search for offensive material in order to find it |
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