Blog: P2P

File sharing itself is described as sharing of computer data in the form of digital media such as pictures or movies, to documents and other programs. Files are shared publicly or privately and send from one system in a network to another system. It can be done many ways, for example, a cloud Dropbox system, or explained below, a P2P way.

P2P stands for peer to peer, and it's a term used to describe a networking system of sharing files from one system or person, to another system or person. This means that a computer sharing a file to a network can also become a client to receive files from the network. 

An example of P2P file sharing application is torrents. Specifically, BitTorrent, is a program for P2P file sharing that catches a lot of controversy due to illegal distribution and downloading of copyrighted materials such as movies and music. In a wired article title "The BitTorrent Effect", it discusses the founding of it from the founder himself and the current clampdown of users that use the platform of BitTorrent for illegal downloads of movies and TV shows. It is a platform that draws people to quickly be able to download huge file sizes in a short time, and that attracts many unintended uses. Users who do this are sometimes sued and the topic of the platform that they use it to do so is always in question.

Overall, the P2P file sharing system is one that I frequently use and appreciate from a technological standpoint.

Sources:
https://www.wired.com/2005/01/bittorrent-2/