BLOG: P2P

File sharing  is the practice of or ability to transmit files from one computer to another over a network or the internet. Peer to peer sharing (p2p) is an aspect of file sharing. An example is torrenting, which connects several pcs (peers) over a network (internet) to share responsibility in downloading files. For example, thepiratebay.com is a torrent file hosting site, as mention in Eric Pfanner's article in The New York Times. Users can go to the website and download a small file called a torrent, which is basically a map for the users computer to download the file. Once the torrent file is open in a program like bittorrent, The file pulls pieces of data from the hard drive of everyone who has the file to help the user download the file on their own. Sites like these are great for sharing huge files that wouldnt fit in email or take too long via ftp, but most users enjoy pirating on these sites. They can download music and movies and tv shows for free, usually just minutes after it is released. The whole idea of p2p sharing is great and i hope that it continues to be a strong file transfer tool in the future.