Peer 2 Peer

Author:  Wes Harbaugh Date:  2005.10.13 Topic:  Other Provider:  Manufacturer:

There are several P2P clients available these days including:

• Bittorrent- undoubtedly the favorite of the online community. Bittorrent revolves around the idea that millions of peers have bandwidth to share. You download parts of a file and upload it to other peers while you download. The more you upload the more you are rewarded with downstream bandwidth. This is one of the best because it has many legitimate purposes as well. It allows one person to spread a large file over the entire internet at an alarming speed. Several corporations have begun using the bittorrent protocol to distribute updates for files. As a user seeds (uploads to others) a file more people upload to other people and eventually a seed explosion occurs where it becomes widely available. Bittorrent is slowly becoming decentralized so it will soon become, in theory, invulnerable to the law.
• Limewire- Similar to the first P2P clients search for files and download very simple
• Emule- Similar to the first P2P clients but has several servers to connect to, there are quite often long queues large variety of files
• DC++- Users connect to hubs of other users and directly connect to a user for a file

The P2P industry changes as fast as the people trying to stop it. If a web site is shut down, another takes it's place, if a program is removed from the web, an unofficial copy is released. It will never stop. People will always find methods to get past copy protection and find ways to save themselves a few bucks. I myself have pirated almost everything on my computer for the last three years. I recently went legit with my music on iTunes. I have downloaded Microsoft Windows several times, but I own about five legit copies anyway, I download movies because they don't come out at the same times internationally and I can watch them on my own schedule. I can afford to not be a pirate. But it's just more convenient for me and my lifestyle, I'm not worried about movie stars missing out on one million dollars in royalties due to piracy. They have enough money and they are over paid, same with many singers. When they get rid of the hummers and designer clothes I'll buy everything. I promise.