Legal Side of Peer to Peer File sharing

 

  WHAT IS LEGAL FILE SHARING?

 

File sharing is involved in various legal aspects as it is often used to exchange intellectual-property that is subject to copyright law or licensing.

If you own the copyright, sharing work or media through a peer-to-peer (P2P) network is legal, and you own the right to determine, how that work is distributed.

In no, the country is a file-sharing illegal.

However, it is illegal for you to download or share copyrighted works without permission from the copyright owner.

 Legal Alternatives to Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

This list is not exhaustive of all content that is legally available. However, it will give you some legal options.

·         Movies: Watch movies online legally.

 

Hulu Movies, Joost Movies, Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, CinemaNow, Walmart Movies, BlockBuster

 

·         TV Shows: Watch TV shows online legally.

 

Hulu TV, Joost TV, Clicker TV, Netflix TV, Walmart TV, iTunes TV

 

·         Music: Listen to music online legally.

 

Pandora, Slacker, iLike, Music Rebellion, Last.FM, Blip.FM, Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music Unlimited, iTunes Music, eMusic, AmieStreet, Mindawn, Zune

 

·         Others:

ESPN3, GameFly, GameTap, Steam

WHAT IS ILLEGAL FILE SHARING?

 

Although there are many legitimate uses of P2P technology, P2P has become associated with the illegal sharing of copyrighted materials.

The use of P2P networks to upload, download, or share copyrighted material, such as movies, music, and software, can violate the rights of copyright owners.

Legal Background of Napster

Napster is legal. It is a pay-for subscription service that streams music to its customers on-demand, but fully in compliance with all laws and fully in accordance with the agreements, it has with the owners of that music. From the subscription fees, it collects it pays the owners of the music. likes Spotify and Apple Music.

 

Legal Background of Gnutella

Gnutella is MP3’s latest weapon in the war over copyright infringement, and it’s directed squarely against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Gnutella is legal. There is no law against sharing public domain files. it is illegal for you to download or share copyrighted works using Gnutella without permission from the copyright owner.

The music industry is officially upset about Gnutella, but there is currently no easy way to control it.

Legal Background of Kazaa

Kazaa users can exchange copyrighted material without paying royalties to the owners. The free-to-download files are controlled by Kazaa users and include copyrighted content. Movie studios and record labels have filed several infringement lawsuits not only against Kazaa but also against individual Kazaa users.

 

Legal Background of Bit Torrent

BitTorrent is often used primarily for downloading unauthorized content. But that's far from its only use, and the protocol still has a lot of value to people who don't pirate.

The internet service provider (ISP) and copyright trolls monitoring the BitTorrent network can take action if they catch you illegally torrenting. This can range from a warning letter to legal action.

RISKS OF FILE SHARING TECHNOLOGY

 

When we Downloading files from unknown computers in the P2P network, it can be risky.

By accepting files from these unknown computers then your computer exposed to malicious computer viruses.

By opening your computer to the P2P network, it is possible a file could circumvent your firewall or other protection.

There are five risks, I have found

Installation of malicious code:

Attackers may incorporate spyware, viruses, Trojan horses, or worms into the files. When you                 download the files, your computer becomes infected.

Exposure of sensitive or personal information:

personal information exposes to unauthorized people.

Susceptibility to attack:

There are some P2P applications that can modify and penetrate firewalls themselves,                                 without our knowledge. It enables attackers to attack our computer.  

Denial of service:

This activity may reduce the availability of certain programs on our computer or may

 limit our access to the internet. 

Prosecution:

If we download these copyright things, even unknowingly, we maybe faced with fines                                or other legal action.

How can you minimize these risks?

The best way to eliminate these risks is to avoid using P2P applications. However, if we can use it this way.

·         Choose Your File-Sharing Platform with Care

Because hackers are in Popular Web-based file storage services. so, we need to choose our File-Sharing Platform carefully.

·         use and maintain anti-virus software

anti-virus software recognizes and protects our computer from malicious computer viruses

·         install or enable a firewall

Firewalls may be able to prevent some types of infection by blocking malicious traffic before it can enter our computer.

·         Use Strong Access Controls

             we can use a strong password on file-sharing platforms.