MP3 - File Sharing

Peer-to-Peer
File sharing has over the Internet; especially music has become a controversy over the last few years. Naspter was the first to bring the file-sharing phenomenon into the light, MP3 being the more popular file. To achieve file sharing across the Internet a Peer-to-peer protocol in needed.

Peer-to-peer (also known as P2P) is a type of transient Internet network that allows a group of computer users with the same networking program to connect with each other and directly access files from one another's hard drives. Napster and Gnutella are examples of this kind of peer-to-peer software.

How Does P2P Work?
The user must first download and execute a peer-to-peer networking program. The user enters the IP address of another computer belonging to the network, after launching the program (The Web page where the user got the download will list several IP addresses as places to begin). Once the computer finds another network member on-line, it will connect to that user's connection (who has gotten their IP address from another user's connection and so on).

Users can choose how many member connections to seek at one time and determine which files they wish to share or password protect. Generally, the P2P network consists of no more than four users at any given time because each additional member slows down the transmission of data over the Internet.

Napster
Napster is one of the more popular peer-to-peer programs and is a controversial application that allows people to share music over the Internet. After downloading Napster, a user can get access to music recorded in the MP3 format from other users who are online at the same time. Simply type in the name of an artist or song, receive a list of what?s available, and then download the music from another user?s hard drive. Users need to continually check the Napster directory since the music that is available depends on who is online at the time. Napster users can not only play the music back after downloading it but also put it on their own CD (if they have a CD writer). Napster also allows music to be played from their server and maintains chatting forums.

Napster has given rise to other Web-based applications for downloading MP3 files, such as Gnutella, Napigator, and Wrapster. In addition to Napster, Macintosh gurus can download Macster and Open Source adherents can use GNapster.

Gnutella
Gnutella is a system in which individuals can exchange files over the Internet directly without going through a Web site in an arrangement sometimes described as peer-to-peer (here meaning "person-to-person"). Like Napster and similar Web sites, Gnutella is often used as a way to download music files from or share them with other Internet users and has been an object of great concern for the music publishing industry. Unlike Napster, Gnutella is not a Web site, but an arrangement in which you can see the files of a small number of other Gnutella users at a time, and they in turn can see the files of others, in a kind of daisy-chain effect. Gnutella also allows you to download any file type, whereas Napster is limited to MP3 music files.

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