Oh the things we learn...

The more I researched P2P file sharing, the more I began to reach a peculiar conclusion that not everything is as black and white as it seems. People seem to understand that the entire process is immoral; seriously, it’s theft. But why is the Web community, especially those that understand the reprehensive nature of the entire ordeal, continuing to download music in greater abundance?

The simple answer to this is that the accessibility of music downloads is increasing, and the methods of downloading are becoming elementary. It is merely point and click. And since an individual can maintain a sense of invisibility in the Web, people take advantage of the obscurity and become immersed in the world of file sharing. Another factor is, as mentioned in the previous blog post, the artists’ desire to reach a massive public without going through a particular publishing company. File sharing is the perfect approach for this. But is this attraction enough to propagate innocence?

P2P file sharing grew like wildfire when the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was passed, which brought about the MP3 revolution. Since the occurrence of the MP3 format, which sufficiently reduces the size of audio files, people have exceedingly uploaded music into file sharing software such as Limewire, Ares, Kazaa, and Soulseek. These allowed the user to download music files in a matter of seconds. But soon after these programs were established, torrent files began a wave of new downloading techniques. Through torrent sites such as Mininova, Suprnova, isoHunt, and the infamous Pirate Bay, the public was able to download full length albums in a matter of seconds without any ramifications whatsoever. To do this, they used client software such as BitTorrent and uTorrent. Thus began the popularization of the seeder and the leecher. The seeder is the individual that uploads the files, while the leecher is the person that downloads the files and immediately cuts off his communication with the rest of the download/upload traffic. In the internet world, the leecher is the enemy, while the seeder is praised by the P2P community. But from a legal standpoint, the seeder is guiltier, since he is distributing the files at a massive rate.

Whether you’re a seeder or leecher, downloading is still illegal. But why do we have such an increasing rate in the number of file sharers? The answer is obvious. The anonymity of the internet provides a safe haven for users and people are beginning to think, with evidence to back them, that music downloading is not as detrimental as it was first sought to be. Maybe not, but the final effect still remains to be seen. Sharers should at least exhibit wariness; for the sake of integrity, and for the sake of music.