Although the peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks have been the center of copyright and piracy issues all over the world today, it is still undeniably the most popular method of downloading music, movies, and other kinds of media files. But with the current rave over iPods and other brands of music gadgets, MP3 music file download is still the most common.
The simplicity of how P2P sharing works attracts millions of users around the world. You just have to install a P2P-sharing software on your own PC and you can already download and upload media files while allowing file sharing with other users. These P2P-sharing software programs can also be downloaded for free from the Internet. So, instead of buying a whole album of a favorite artist, you can just download it from your P2P-sharing network at no cost at all.
Thus, the P2P-sharing network rave has caught the attention of the music industry for it is causing a huge amount of income loss. The music industry lost about 20% of sales since the intrusion of music downloading in 1999. This has led the Recording Industry Association of America to file a copyright infringement lawsuit against P2P-sharing network pioneer, Napster Inc. Then in 2002, Napster was eventually forced to shut down.
Until today, there are still other P2P networks that followed the steps of Napster and are still operating. Among these networks are BitTorrents, Limewire, Gnutella, OpenNap, KaZaA, Morpheus, WinMX, FastTrack, and many others.
