The Birth of Napster to the Death of Privacy
The Birth of Napster
To
The Death of Privacy
One of the most debated issues before our society is the issue of internet privacy. Privacy is such a valued concept that in today 's world we pay good money in order to keep intruders out of our computer systems and out of our lives. Peer-to-Peer downloading is a major factor to the internet privacy issue. Peer-to-Peer downloading (also known as "file sharing") is considered by Microsoft to be "the act of making files on one computer accessible to others on a network." The original use of file sharing was simply meant for users to send files to one another. It has now become one of the biggest dilemmas of our modern society. Does the government have the right to search your private files on your computer and sue you if they have been illegally obtained? Is the government right to shut down sites that aid peer-to-peer downloading, yet do not share the files themselves? In order to understand the issue of peer-to-peer downloading, we must first understand the programs that were and are still being used.
Going back to the 1970 's we see the first program created to exchange information between two or more users. The CBBS (Computerized Bulletin Board System) was created by Ward Christensen to be able to transfer computer files through an internet connection. Because of the primitive computer technology available at the time, the CBBS had its limitations but was still considered very useful. Next in line in the file sharing timeline is a program called File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Being created in 1985, it was a simple file-sharing program. The most important program throughout peer-to-peer programs history was the project that began in 1999 by a young 19-year old; it started what has turned into one of the biggest headaches for the US government. The infamous Napster was the first and the original peer-to-peer program. The way Napster worked is by searching other peers "shared" files. Let 's say that
To
The Death of Privacy
One of the most debated issues before our society is the issue of internet privacy. Privacy is such a valued concept that in today 's world we pay good money in order to keep intruders out of our computer systems and out of our lives. Peer-to-Peer downloading is a major factor to the internet privacy issue. Peer-to-Peer downloading (also known as "file sharing") is considered by Microsoft to be "the act of making files on one computer accessible to others on a network." The original use of file sharing was simply meant for users to send files to one another. It has now become one of the biggest dilemmas of our modern society. Does the government have the right to search your private files on your computer and sue you if they have been illegally obtained? Is the government right to shut down sites that aid peer-to-peer downloading, yet do not share the files themselves? In order to understand the issue of peer-to-peer downloading, we must first understand the programs that were and are still being used.
Going back to the 1970 's we see the first program created to exchange information between two or more users. The CBBS (Computerized Bulletin Board System) was created by Ward Christensen to be able to transfer computer files through an internet connection. Because of the primitive computer technology available at the time, the CBBS had its limitations but was still considered very useful. Next in line in the file sharing timeline is a program called File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Being created in 1985, it was a simple file-sharing program. The most important program throughout peer-to-peer programs history was the project that began in 1999 by a young 19-year old; it started what has turned into one of the biggest headaches for the US government. The infamous Napster was the first and the original peer-to-peer program. The way Napster worked is by searching other peers "shared" files. Let 's say that
Cited: Microsoft TechNet. Microsoft November 1st, 2002. October 31st, 2005 (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/visio/visio2002/plan/glossary.mspx#ELAA ) Pescue, Mark. "Piracy Is Good?" Australian Film Television and Radio School. Sydney, May 6th, 2005 "Napster" Wikipedia Borland, John. "Unreleased Madonna single slips onto Net" CNET News June 1st, 2000 ( http://news.com.com/2100-1023-241341.html?legacy=cnet ) Sangha, Soni, Phyllis Furman New York Daily News September 9th, 2003. October 31st, 2005 (http://nydailynews.com/front/story/116117p-104761c.html ) Andersen, V