Peer-to-Peer Filesharing Systems for Digital Media

Abstract

In 1999, exchanges of digital media objects, especially files of music, came to constitute a significant portion of Internet traffic thanks to a new set of technologies known as peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing systems. The networks created by software applications such as Napster and Kazaa have made it possible for millions of users to gain access to an extraordinary range of multimedia files, which, by virtue of their purely digital form, have the desirable characteristics of portability and replicability, which pose great challenges for businesses that have in the past controlled images and sound recordings.