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See Shared resource for the conventional meaning of file sharing

File sharing usually follows the peer-to-peer (P2P) model, where the files are stored on and served by personal computers of the users. In Computing, a shared resource or network share is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer typically via For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing Most people who engage in file sharing on the Internet both provide (upload) files and receive files (download).

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 forcing the sharing of files being currently downloaded.

Contents

First P2P-generation: Server-client

The first generation of peer-to-peer file sharing networks had a centralized server system. This system controls traffic amongst the users. The servers store directories of the shared files of the users and are updated when a user logs on. In the centralized peer-to-peer model, a user would send a search to the centralized server of what they were looking for. The server then sends back a list of peers that have the data and facilitates the connection and download. The Server-Client system is quick and efficient because the central directory is constantly being updated and all users had to be registered to use the program. However, there is only a single point of entry, which could result in a collapse of the network. In addition, it is possible to have out of date information or broken links if the server is not refreshed. [1]

The first file-sharing programs marked themselves by inquiries to a server, either the data to the download held ready or in appropriate different Peers and so-called Nodes further-obtained, so that one could download there. For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing A node ( Latin nodus, ‘knot’ is a critical element of any Computer network. Two examples were Napster (today using a pay system) and eDonkey2000 in the server version (today, likewise with Overnet and KAD - network decentralized). Napster was an online music file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning while he was attending Northeastern University in Boston and operating eDonkey2000 (nicknamed "ed2k" was a Peer-to-peer File sharing application developed by MetaMachine using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol Overnet was a decentralized Peer-to-peer Computer network, usually used for sharing large files (e Kademlia is a Distributed hash table for decentralized Peer to peer Computer networks designed by Petar Maymounkov and David Mazières Another notable instance of peer to peer file sharing, which still has a free version, is Limewire.

Web-based sharing

Webhosting is also used for file-sharing, since it makes it possible to exchange privately. In small communities popular files can be distributed very quickly and efficiently. Web hosters are independent of each other; therefore contents are not distributed further. Other terms for this are one-click hosting and web-based sharing.

File Sharing On The Social Graph

Recently, Facebook opened up its API to 3rd party developers that has allowed for a new type of file-sharing service to emerge. Facebook is a social networking Website launched on February 4 2004 Box. net and FreeDrive. com [3] are two examples of companies that have specific Facebook Applications that allow file sharing to be easily accomplished between friends.

Server-client-protocols

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. Justin Frankel (born 1978 is an American computer programmer best known for his work on the Winamp media player application and for inventing the Gnutella (nʊˈtɛlə with a silent g, or alternatively /gnʊˈtɛlə/ is a File sharing network 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'. FastTrack is a Peer-to-peer (P2P protocol, used by the Kazaa (and variants Grokster and IMesh) File sharing programs

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 tables (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. Distributed hash tables ( DHTs) are a class of decentralized distributed systems that provide a lookup service similar to a Hash table: ( name, 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. Gnutella (nʊˈtɛlə with a silent g, or alternatively /gnʊˈtɛlə/ is a File sharing network Kazaa Media Desktop (once capitalized as " KaZaA " but now usually written " Kazaa " is a Peer-to-peer File sharing application eMule is a free Peer-to-peer file sharing application for Microsoft Windows. Kademlia is a Distributed hash table for decentralized Peer to peer Computer networks designed by Petar Maymounkov and David Mazières eDonkey2000/Overnet, Gnutella, FastTrack and Ares Galaxy have summed up approx. eDonkey2000 (nicknamed "ed2k" was a Peer-to-peer File sharing application developed by MetaMachine using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol Overnet was a decentralized Peer-to-peer Computer network, usually used for sharing large files (e FastTrack is a Peer-to-peer (P2P protocol, used by the Kazaa (and variants Grokster and IMesh) File sharing programs Ares Galaxy is an open source Peer-to-peer File sharing application that uses its own decentralized supernode/leaf network 10. 3 million users (as of April 2006, according to slyck. com). This number does not necessarily correspond to the actual number of persons who use these networks; it must be assumed that some use multiple clients for different networks.

Multi-Network-Clients

See Multi-network applications

Further networks or clients

See other networks

Third P2P-Generation: indirect and encrypted

Main article: Anonymous P2P

The third generation of peer-to-peer networks are those that have anonymity features built in. For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing An anonymous P2P computer network is a particular type of Peer-to-peer network in which the users are anonymous or pseudonymous by default Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ανωνυμία, meaning "without a Name " or "namelessness" Examples of anonymous networks are ANts P2P, RShare, Freenet, I2P, GNUnet and Entropy. ANts P2P is an anonymous peer-to-peer Open source File sharing software written in Java. RShare is an anonymising Peer-to-peer File sharing system It offers resistance to the analysis of Freenet is a decentralized Censorship -resistant Distributed data store originally designed by Ian Clarke. I2P (originally short for Invisible Internet Project, though it is not commonly referred to by this name anymore is a mixed-license free and Open source GNUnet is a Free software framework for decentralized, Peer-to-peer networking. Entropy is a decentralized Peer-to-peer communication network designed to be resistant to Censorship, much like Freenet

A degree of anonymity is realized by routing traffic through other users' clients, which have the function of network nodes. A node ( Latin nodus, ‘knot’ is a critical element of any Computer network. 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 the user's computer, then each node can forward requests and files anonymously between its own "friends" nodes. A friend-to-friend (or F2F) computer network is a type of Peer-to-peer network in which users only make direct connections with people they know A node ( Latin nodus, ‘knot’ is a critical element of any Computer network.

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. However, in countries where very fast fiber-to-the-home Internet access is commonplace, such as Japan, a number of anonymous file-sharing clients have already reached high popularity. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

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. Often used virtual IP addresses obfuscate the user's network location because Petra only knows the virtual IP of Anna. Although real IP's are always necessary to establish a connection between Petra and Oliver, nobody knows if Anna really requested and Petra really send the file or if they just forward it (As long as they won't tell anyone their virtual IP's!). 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. WASTE is a Peer-to-peer and Friend-to-friend protocol and software application developed by Justin Frankel at Nullsoft in 2003 that features Tor ( The Onion Router) is a Free software implementation of second-generation Onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate anonymously I2P (originally short for Invisible Internet Project, though it is not commonly referred to by this name anymore is a mixed-license free and Open source 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. A darknet can be Darknet (file sharing - a closed private network of computers used for file sharing An alternate term for a Network telescope

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. ANts P2P is an anonymous peer-to-peer Open source File sharing software written in Java. Hornets are the largest eusocial Wasps that reach up to 45 Millimetres (1 The MUTE Network (or MUTE-net) is a Peer-to-peer and Friend-to-friend File sharing network developed with anonymity in mind KDE ( K Desktop Environment) (ˌkeɪdiːˈiː is a Free software project which aims to be a powerful system for an easy-to-use Desktop environment. I2P (originally short for Invisible Internet Project, though it is not commonly referred to by this name anymore is a mixed-license free and Open source I2P (originally short for Invisible Internet Project, though it is not commonly referred to by this name anymore is a mixed-license free and Open source I2P (originally short for Invisible Internet Project, though it is not commonly referred to by this name anymore is a mixed-license free and Open source Freenet is a decentralized Censorship -resistant Distributed data store originally designed by Ian Clarke. GNUnet is a Free software framework for decentralized, Peer-to-peer networking. Nodezilla is a Peer-to-peer network written in C++ (core aka Network Agent and Java (GUI and the GUI part is released under the GNU General Public The Owner-Free File System ( OFFSystem, or OFF for short is a Peer-to-peer Distributed file system through which all shared files are represented ProxyShare is a Peer-to-peer (P2P network designed for achieving high download speeds RShare is an anonymising Peer-to-peer File sharing system It offers resistance to the analysis of Share is the name for a Closed-source P2P application being developed in Japan by an anonymous author Tor ( The Onion Router) is a Free software implementation of second-generation Onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate anonymously Winny (also known as WinNY) is a Japanese Peer-to-peer (P2P File-sharing program which claims to be loosely inspired by the design principles behind the Zultrax is a multi-network Peer-to-peer application 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. BitTorrent is a Peer-to-peer File sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of Data. Best examples are Peercast, Miro, Cybersky and demo TV. PeerCast is an Open source Streaming media multicast tool PeerCast uses Peer to peer technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original Miro (previously known as Democracy Player and DTV) is an Internet television application developed by the Participatory Culture Foundation. Cybersky-TV is a free Software application for sharing Television signals using a P2PTV (Peer-To-Peer Television technology

General

Tree structure

Swarm structure such as BitTorrent

Economic impact

Since downloading files has become more common, there has been much controversy about whether infringement of copyrighted music has either hurt or helped CD sales. Broadcatching is the downloading of digital content that has been made available over the Internet using RSS syndication A podcast is a series of audio or Video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated Download CoolStreaming is a P2PTV ( Peer-to-peer Television) technology that enables users to share television content with each other over the Internet PeerCast is an Open source Streaming media multicast tool PeerCast uses Peer to peer technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original BitTorrent is a Peer-to-peer File sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of Data. Icecast is a free Streaming media project maintained by the Xiph Joost ( like "juiced" is a system for distributing recorded TV shows and other forms of video over the Web using peer-to-peer TV technology, created by Niklas MediaBlog is a software that distributes almost all kinds of streams on P2P network based on VLC player. PeerCast is an Open source Streaming media multicast tool PeerCast uses Peer to peer technology to minimize the necessary upload bandwidth for the original PPLive is a peer-to-peer streaming video network created in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, People's Republic of China. PPStream is a Chinese Peer-to-peer streaming video network software TVU Networks Corporation is an Internet company that operates an Internet television broadcasting network that uses P2PTV technology to offer its broadcasters global reach and Vuze (formerly Azureus) is a free BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol

Some economic studies have found that file sharing has a negative impact on record sales. For example, three papers published in the April 2006 issue of the Journal of Law and Economics (Liebowitz, Rob and Waldfogel, Zentner) all found harm from filesharing. Alejandro Zentner notes in another paper published in 2005 (Topics in Economic Analysis & Policy), that music sales have globally dropped from approximately $38 billion in 1999 to $32 billion in 2003, and that this downward trend coincides with the advent of Napster in June of 1999. Finally, using aggregate data Stan J. Liebowitz argues in a series of papers (2005, 2006) that file sharing had a significant negative impact on record sales.

However, the most widely cited paper concludes that file sharing has no negative effect on CD sales. This paper by Olberholzer-Gee and Strumpf,[2] was published in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Political Economy, and is the only paper which analyzes actual downloads on file sharing networks. As staff writer John Borland of CNET News. com reports, “even high levels of file-swapping seemed to translate into an effect on album sales that was ‘statistically indistinguishable from zero,’ they [the researchers] wrote. ”[3] From data gathered from the many weeks of tracking downloading on OpenNap servers they found that most users logged on very rarely and when they did log on they only downloaded a little more than one CD’s worth of songs. To show how these downloads affected album sales they tracked sales and downloads of 500 random albums of varying genres and after doing so found that illegal downloads would only be a small force in the decrease in album sales, possibly even slightly improving album sales of the top albums in stores at the time. [4]

Some researchers believe that massive copying has been occurring ever since the invention of tape cassettes and the increased economic impact of simpler access to copying provided by computer networks does not seem to have been large. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound .

According to an article published by the Almighty Institute of Music Retail, an estimation of 900 independent record stores have closed since 2003, leaving 2,700 nationwide. Carolyn Draving, the owner of Trac Records is being closed after 32 years and she believes the downfall is a direct result of the illegal internet. She states that she lost many long-time consumers to the internet and knows for certain that a few stopped coming in because they just downloaded instead. Another owner, Warren Greene of Spinsters Records claims that nobody buys CD’s anymore and that most of his customers have turned to the internet in order to obtain their music.

In order to keep these smaller record stores alive, owners are having to find alternative means to stay afloat. Greene has saved his store from going under “. . . by finding a new product to sell: T-shirts emblazoned with digital images. ”[5]He purchased a digital garment printing machine that lets him print any digital photo a customer wants onto a T-shirt. The shirts sell for $20 to $25, and are creating a higher profit margin than the sale of CD’s.

An article posted in the Wall Street Journal have found that CD sales have dropped 20% since last year, which they say is the latest sign of the shift in the way people acquire their music. While the music industry, along with other types of media such as film and TV are having a difficult time adapting to the digital age, BigChampagne LLC has reported that around one billion songs a month are being traded on illegal file-sharing networks. As a result of this decline in CD sales, a significant amount of record stores are going out of business and “. . . making it harder for consumers to find and purchase older titles in stores. ”[6]

Legal and copyright issues

Main article: File sharing and the law

File sharing grew in popularity with the proliferation of high-speed Internet connections, and the relatively small file size and high-quality MP3 audio format. See also File sharing The legal issues in File sharing involve violation of Copyright laws as digital copies of copy-written materials are transferred between 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. 'Copyright infringement' (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by Copyright law in a manner that violates Despite the existence of various international treaties, there are still sufficient variations between countries to cause significant difficulties in the protection of copyright. A Treaty is an agreement under International law entered into by actors in international law namely States and International organizations. 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. [4] 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:

  • Ambiguities in the interpretation of copyright law
  • The new challenges posed by international communications and varying legislations
  • Mass litigation and the development of processes for evidence and discovery
  • Rapidly developing new technologies and uses
  • Low barriers to entry by would-be sharers and the development of a mass usage of the technologies
  • File-sharing approaches developed in response to litigation against sharers, which obfuscate or hide the fact that sharing is happening, or the identities of those involved. In Law, discovery is the pre-trial phase in a Lawsuit in which each party through the law of Civil procedure can request documents and other evidence For example: encryption and darknets. A darknet can be Darknet (file sharing - a closed private network of computers used for file sharing An alternate term for a Network telescope
  • The transfer of segmented files that; arguably, by themselves do not constitute a copyright issue. In computing memory segmentation is one of the most common ways to achieve Memory protection; another common one is Paging.

Further challenges have arisen because of the need to balance self-protection against fair use. Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders such as use for A perceived overbalance towards protection (in the form of media that cannot be backed up, cannot be played on multiple systems by the owner, or contains rootkits[7] or irksome security systems inserted by manufacturers) has led to a backlash against protection systems in some quarters. A rootkit is a computer virus which consists of a program (or combination of several programs designed to take fundamental control (in Unix terms "root" For example, the first crack of AACS was inspired by a perceived unfair restriction on owner usage. The Advanced Access Content System ( AACS) is a standard for Content distribution and Digital rights management, intended to restrict access [8]

Public perception

According to a poll, 75% of young voters in Sweden (18-20) support file sharing when presented with the statement:

“ I think it is OK to download files from the Net, even if it is illegal. ”

Of the respondents, 38% said they "adamantly agreed" while 39% said they "partly agreed". [9]

Attacks on peer-to-peer networks

Many peer-to-peer networks are under constant attack by people with a variety of motives.

Examples include:

Most attacks can be defeated or controlled by careful design of the P2P network and through the use of encryption. P2P network defense is in fact closely related to the "Byzantine Generals Problem". However, almost any network will fail when the majority of the peers are trying to damage it, and many protocols may be rendered impotent by far fewer numbers.

Risks

Eric Johnson, Dan McGuire, and Nicholas D. Willey state some risks in their paper:

Some file-sharing software comes bundled with malware such as spyware, viruses, adware, or otherwise privacy-invasive software. Malware, a Portmanteau word from the words '''mal'''icious and soft'''ware''', is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without Such content will be deleted Specific software is to be mentioned in this article only A computer virus is a Computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays displays or downloads advertisements Privacy -invasive software is a category of Computer software that ignores users privacy and that is distributed with a specific intent often of a Sometimes this unwanted software remains installed on the system even if the original file-sharing software is removed, and can be very difficult to eliminate. In many cases such malware can interfere with the correct operation of web browsers, anti-virus software, anti-spyware and software firewalls; can cause degraded performance on affected systems; and in some cases may secretly compromise a user's privacy or security. A web browser is a software application which enables a user to display and interact with text images videos music games and other information typically located on a A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system Malware is typically bundled with proprietary software, and not those in open source. Proprietary software is Computer software on which the producer has set restrictions on use private modification copying, or republishing. Open source is a development methodology which offers practical accessibility to a product's source (goods and knowledge In most cases it is possible to remove adware and spyware by running spyware removal 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. Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer Child pornography refers to material depicting Children being in a state of undress engaged in erotic poses or sexual activity Novice users may find it difficult to obtain information about 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 file types avoids exposure to video and image files). An audio file format is a Container format for storing audio data on a Computer system Digital video is a type of Video recording system that works by using a Digital rather than an analog video signal Image file formats are standardized means of organising and storing images [12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Understanding Peer-to-Peer Networking and File-Sharing
  2. ^ The Literature
  3. ^ By “John Borland”, See [1]. BitTorrent is a Peer-to-peer File sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of Data. See also Comparison of BitTorrent software Comparison of eDonkey software In a compulsory license a government forces the holder of a Patent, Copyright, or other Exclusive right to grant use to the state or others In Computing, a shared resource or network share is a device or piece of information on a computer that can be remotely accessed from another computer typically via Ethics of file sharing is a subfield of Ethics specifically relating to the ethical implications of File sharing over computer networks and the Internet FAIRSHARE Scotland's Campaign for a Better Democracy Fairshare Voting Reform is a cross-party and non-party organisation set up in February 2001 to campaign for the introduction of the Canada has the greatest number of file sharers per capita in the world according to a report by the OECD. This article presents a Timeline of events in the history of File sharing. A file-sharing program is used to directly or indirectly transfer files from one Computer to another computer over a network (e Founded in 1998 the same year as MP3com MP3 Newswire is the oldest active news site devoted to digital media technology The Open Music Model is an economic and technological framework for the Recording industry proposed in 2003, which suggests that the only viable system for distributing Phynd is a LAN-indexing Search engine used to facilitate Peer-to-peer File sharing over a Local-area network. File sharing peer to peer (P2P systems like Gnutella, KaZaA, and EDonkey / EMule, took the Internet by a storm in recent years with estimated Such content will be deleted Specific software is to be mentioned in this article only "Warez" refers primarily to Copyrighted works traded in violation of Copyright law.
  4. ^ By “John Borland”, See [2].
  5. ^ By “John Wilen”, See Almighty Institute of Music Retail.
  6. ^ By “Ethan Smith”, See Wallstreet Journal Website.
  7. ^ See 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal. The Sony BMG CD copy prevention scandal concerns the Copy prevention measures included by Sony BMG on Compact discs in 2005
  8. ^ By "Muslix64", written on doom9's forum. Doom9 is a Website featuring information on digital audio and video manipulation mostly video and digital copyrights See original post and the ensuing AACS encryption key controversy. Before editing this article or commenting on this article's talk page please read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's legal primer on this issue http//www
  9. ^ The Local - Young voters back file sharing
  10. ^ By Baptiste Pretre Attacks on Peer-to-Peer Networking
  11. ^ By M. Eric Johnson, Dan McGuire, Nicholas D. Willey The Evolution of the Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Industry and the Security Risks for Users
  12. ^ Morris, Alan (2003-08-22). Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor. Testimony of Mr. Alan Morris about Pornography, Technology and Process: Problems and Solutions on Peer-to-Peer Networks. United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC. Retrieved on 2006-11-20. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs,

Further reading

External links

The Open Directory Project ( ODP) also known as dmoz (from directory

Dictionary

file sharing

-noun

  1. (uncountable) (computing) The process of making files available to others to download from the Internet.
  2. (uncountable) (computing) The use of a file sharing network, or peer-to-peer software.
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