File sharing is the act of sharing and distributing digital media such as music, movies, literature (e-books/textbooks; my personal favorite), games, software programs or photos. Kazaa, Napster, Pirate Bay were controversial programs that allowed users to share and download digital media free of charge which created issues of piracy, copyright infringement, intellectual property and many ethical problems. To simply define Peer to peer (P2P), it is when 2 or more computers are networked to allow files and folders to be shared publicly or with a selected amount of users. An example of P2P is the infamous Napster. It was the first time I have heard of MP3, and it was so simple to use and best of all free.
Music was being downloaded over the Internet in monumental amounts and this created a huge controversy when record companies and music artists began to sue fans for piracy. Music companies began to see the financial loss with programs like Napster . The article titled "Online Piracy and the Emergence of New Business Models" explains the revolution of P2Ps programs like Napster. "Napster and its followers’ contribution to technology was noteworthy. A leading
entertainment and media analyst considered Napster to be “absolutely a groundbreaking
technology that changed the way consumers listened to music, discovered music, and interacted
with music." Napster influenced the tech world in a major way. While MP3 files are still available to download over the internet, not easily so like it was 15 years ago.
I support the idea of free music. I think that New Media makes it easy to create and share music, and therefore now anybody can become popular by making good content. There is no need any more to pay for distribution, as it was done by the artists in the past. Now anyone can become popular simply using their own computer, camera or microphone. With such an easy music promotion, it means that the time when you had to pay for music is over, and it’s time for it to be free. Yet, artists can still make money from their fame by concerts, ads and remain wealthy enough, but without payments from their Internet listeners.
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