P2P File Sharing – Is It Really That Bad?

The first thing you should know is that file sharing and the technology are not illegal. The problem arises when users share what they are not supposed to share.

The technology itself is there to facilitate quick sharing of vital and free to distribute files. This may include research documents, photographs, videos and even music. However, the tag of free to distribute should be on the file that is being shared. The only other way you can share is if you exclusively own the rights to the file; such as a photograph you took of your dog, kitchen, etc.

The P2P architecture was designed to bring down the costs in acquiring servers. Storing all files on s single or multiple file servers is a costly business. Whereas storing them on a multitude of PC’s is cheap and effective. Unfortunately, the abuse of the system is what has given the system itself a bad name. Now, P2P is predominantly associated with Piracy and that has blackened its name forever.

Any form of media that you can think of can be found on file sharing networks worldwide. Movies, music, textbooks, images, etc. can be found easily by even a six year old. Tackling this problem is not easy. Sadly the very nature of the service’s architecture is what makes policing it almost impossible. With the files being scattered all over the world and residing on multiple computers, hunting each one down and bring legal action against a user is never ending work.