GROUP 1:

 

TOP THREE P2P FILE SHARING SITES

 

REWRITES AND IMPACT STATEMENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                            By:

                                                                                                                        Group 1:                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                        Nicole Barrett

                                                                                                                        Sarju Bharucha                                                                                                                                  Angela S. Carroll

                                                                                                                        Kristin Clayton

                                                                                                                        Anna Swietek

 

 

 

 

URL #1:

 

http://ntrg.cs.tcd.ie/undergrad/4ba2.02-03/Intro.html

 

CONTENT DESCRIPTION:

This web site contains a wealth of information related to P2P technology.  More specifically, it contains a historical overview of P2P technology touching on its past, present and potential future developments.  It discusses a history of music copying and how P2P technology has helped or hurt recording artists.  This site gives a brief historical overview of copyright law, how copyright applies to P2P, and how to control P2P copyright infringement.  An overview of Napster is provided, including information on its architecture and how it works, its background, and the legal controversy behind it.  Overviews of Gnutella, Freenet and YouServ are provided which give information on how each system works with more references provided so one can learn more about each system.  In addition, the website contains a discussion with diagrams on how information in a P2P network is routed.  Finally, P2P search engines are compared and contrasted with regular search engines.  The whole site concludes with a Reader’s Guide which gives a brief synopsis of the information included in each of the previous sections.

 

IMPACT:

This web site provides an excellent overview of Gnutella, Freenet, Napster and YouServ systems as well as P2P routing and P2P search engines.  Combined with the historical overview and legal framework overview, this site is an excellent one-stop resource for learning the basics of P2P technology as well as the business and social aspects of it.  Because of all the information included here, a lawyer can streamline his research and learn much from this one place.  Additionally, since each section contains a bibliography/reference list, anyone who needs more information on a specific topic is easily directed to more sources. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

URL#2: 

 

http://www.cio.com/research/knowledge/edit/p2p_content.html

 

Content Description:

This website discusses the framework of P2P beginning with the technology behind P2P and its ability to pool computers to tap unused resources. Next, it moves to the history of P2P and explains that despite the current attention P2P has been around for decades. Further, the site lists some cutting edge P2P vendors and describes their up and coming applications. Then, it launches a description of the three types of P2P computing: collaborative computing, instant messaging, and affinity communities. Additionally, the site describes P2P in the context of the business world and discusses the enormous profits that can be made as well as the complications and security issues that it raises. Finally, the site discusses the future of P2P. In addition to all this information, this website includes multiple links for more expansive coverage of P2P technology including a discussion forum and a research center for intellectual property issues involved with P2P technology.

 

Impact:

This site presents information in an effective question and answer format that begins with the basics and gradually grows more technical in scope. Due to this layout, this is a great website for the attorney who needs an introduction to the basic aspects of P2P as well as the attorney who is more familiar with P2P and wants to keep pace with cutting edge P2P technology and current business issues surrounding implementation of these new applications.  The site’s links to current and future intellectual property issues surrounding P2P technology is a useful tool for the curious student or the practicing attorney.  Additionally, this site is useful for corporations looking to implement some P2P technology because it describes the possible advantages and disadvantages of this venture.

 

 

 

 

 

URL# 3:


 http://compnetworking.about.com/od/p2ppeertopeer/a/p2pintroduction.htm

CONTENT DESCRIPTION:
The general web site is a great resource for computer technology in general, but this section specifically deals with P2P, and this page deals with the technology behind P2P.  The technology discussion is divided into three basic sections: traditional peer-to-peer networks, peer-to-peer software, and Kazaa and Napster-type file sharing technology.  Several key terms within the technology discussion are hyperlinked to different areas of the web site, or other web sites, where they are defined or discussed in more detail.  Links to related articles and other suggested readings, dealing with P2P technology and related issues, are provided at the end of the discussion.

IMPACT:
This web site is a great starting place for anyone who is not overly technical, but wants to understand the technology behind P2P.  It would be helpful for lawyers, students, and judges to review the contents of this web site to quickly gather an informative overview of file sharing and the technology behind it before discussing the subject with a client, other lawyer, or before judging a case.  Moreover, attorneys, students, and judges would find this web site useful because it begins to address issues such as piracy in the context of P2P setting, software applications, network technologies, and the ethics of file sharing and its impact on copyright law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________________________

© 2004 Group 1.  All rights reserved.  The information contained in this document is in the public domain and may be reproduced, published, and/or otherwise used without the author’s permission.  However, the author claims no rights to the information contained within the internet hyperlinks in this document.