File Sharing
File sharing is where digital information, in the form of programs, images, audio, documents or other media, is shared or distributed. The earliest forms of file sharing occurred in the late 1970’s through mounting files on bulletin board systems and Usenet and these systems remained in place until the mid 1990’s.
There are close to 50 different file sharing programs currently available, some of which are free while others cost. Care needs to be taken when choosing a file sharing program, as some of these have associated spyware, a malicious file type that can monitor and disrupt activity on your computer.
Nowadays, torrent sites are common methods of file sharing, although there are many protests about the legality of such sites and file sites in general, as while there are many legitimate uses of their services, such as offering freeware, open source software or shareware, a large portion of their activity is in transferring copyright protected media, such as movies or MP3s.
There is a number of different ways that files can be shared. The simplest of these is manual sharing, though the use of removable media such as memory sticks, external hard drives, CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs. Media can also be stored on computer servers, accessible by multiple users and downloaded through linked documents on the internet.
File sharing outside of these categories falls into two major types: peer-to-peer and file hosting services. File hosting is addressed in detail on another section of the site, but in general terms it is where a user stores their information on an external site, often through a site that offers online file storage. Some providers offer this as a free service, others charge. Files hosted in this way can be hosted in a way that is accessible by anybody.
Peer-to-peer file sharing involves using software to connect to a network and access files on the computers of other users on the network. This allows for the files to be downloaded directly, with larger files generally broken down into smaller pieces. These pieces may be obtained from multiple users on the network and then the software will reconstruct the file. While this is happening, the user is uploading the pieces that they already have to other users on the network.
Online file sharing is a service offered by many sites and programs that allows files of any time to be posted online either for access to anyone or for access by specific people such as by the use of passwords to control access. It is important to realize that just because files are shared and available online, this does not mean that obtaining the files is legal.