# File sharing

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Practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information

Part of a series on File sharing and online piracy Technologies File-hosting services Online video platform Peer to peer Usenet Web hosting WebRTC XDCC Video watching sites 123Movies PeerTube Putlocker BitTorrent sites 1337x BTDigg Demonoid ExtraTorrent EZTV isoHunt FitGirl Repacks KickassTorrents Nyaa Torrents RARBG ruTracker.org TamilRockers The Pirate Bay YIFY YourBittorrent Academic shadow libraries Anna's Archive ICanHazPDF Internet Archive Library Genesis Sci-Hub Shadow library Z-Library P2P file sharing networks BitTorrent Direct Connect eDonkey Gnutella Gnutella2 FastTrack Napster Hyphanet Kad network I2P Soulseek P2P file sharing clients BitComet DC++ eMule Filetopia μTorrent LimeWire OnionShare qBittorrent Shareaza Transmission Tribler Vuze WinMX Video streaming apps Butter Project Kodi Popcorn Time Torrents-Time Anonymous file sharing Anonymous P2P Darknet Friend-to-friend Private P2P Proxy server Seedbox VPN History and societal aspects Timeline Legality BitTorrent issues By country or region Canada Japan Singapore UK USA Comparisons Comparison of BitTorrent clients Comparison of BitTorrent sites Comparison of IRC clients Comparison of Usenet newsreaders v t e

**File sharing** is the practice of distributing or providing access to [digital media](/source/Digital_media), such as computer programs, [multimedia](/source/Multimedia) (audio, images and video), documents or [electronic books](/source/E-book). Common methods of [storage](/source/Computer_data_storage), [transmission](/source/Data_transmission) and dispersion include [removable media](/source/Removable_media), centralized servers on [computer networks](/source/Computer_network), Internet-based [hyperlinked](/source/Hyperlink) documents, and the use of distributed [peer-to-peer](/source/Peer-to-peer) networking.

File sharing technologies, such as [BitTorrent](/source/BitTorrent), are integral to modern [media piracy](/source/Digital_piracy), as well as the sharing of scientific data and other free content.

## History

For a chronological guide, see [Timeline of file sharing](/source/Timeline_of_file_sharing).

Files were first exchanged on [removable media](/source/Removable_media). Computers were able to access remote files using [filesystem](/source/Filesystem) mounting, [bulletin board systems](/source/Bulletin_board_system) (1978), [Usenet](/source/Usenet) (1979), and [FTP](/source/File_Transfer_Protocol) servers (1970's). [Internet Relay Chat](/source/Internet_Relay_Chat) (1988) and [Hotline](/source/Hotline_Communications) (1997) enabled users to communicate remotely through [chat](/source/Online_chat) and to exchange files. The [mp3](/source/Mp3) encoding, which was standardized in 1991 and substantially reduced the size of [audio files](/source/Audio_file_format), grew to widespread use in the late 1990s. In 1998, [MP3.com](/source/MP3.com) and [Audiogalaxy](/source/Audiogalaxy) were established, the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act](/source/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act) was unanimously passed, and the first [mp3 player](/source/Portable_media_player) devices were launched.[1]

In June 1999, [Napster](/source/Napster) was released as an unstructured centralized peer-to-peer system,[2] requiring a central server for indexing and peer discovery. It is generally credited as being the first peer-to-peer file sharing system. In December 1999, Napster was sued by several recording companies and lost in *[A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.](/source/A%26M_Records%2C_Inc._v._Napster%2C_Inc.)*.[3] In the case of Napster, it has been ruled that an online service provider could not use the "transitory network transmission" safe harbor in the [DMCA](/source/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act) if they had control of the network with a server.[4]

[Gnutella](/source/Gnutella), [eDonkey2000](/source/EDonkey2000), and [Freenet](/source/Freenet) were released in 2000, as MP3.com and Napster were facing litigation. [Gnutella](/source/Gnutella), released in March, was the first decentralized file-sharing network. In the Gnutella network, all connecting software was considered equal, and therefore the network had no [central point of failure](/source/Single_point_of_failure). In July, [Freenet](/source/Freenet) was released and became the first anonymity network. In September the [eDonkey2000](/source/EDonkey2000) client and server software was released.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In March 2001, [Kazaa](/source/Kazaa) was released. Its [FastTrack](/source/FastTrack) network was distributed, though, unlike Gnutella, it assigned more traffic to 'supernodes' to increase routing efficiency. The network was proprietary and encrypted, and the Kazaa team made substantial efforts to keep other clients such as [Morpheus](/source/Morpheus_(file-sharing_software)) off of the FastTrack network.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] In October 2001, the [MPAA](/source/MPAA) and the [RIAA](/source/RIAA) filed a lawsuit against the developers of Kazaa, Morpheus and [Grokster](/source/Grokster)[5][6] that would lead to the US Supreme Court's *[MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.](/source/MGM_Studios%2C_Inc._v._Grokster%2C_Ltd.)* decision in 2005.

Shortly after its loss in court, Napster was shut down to comply with a court order. This drove users to other P2P applications and file sharing continued its growth.[7] The Audiogalaxy Satellite client grew in popularity, and the [LimeWire](/source/LimeWire) client and [BitTorrent](/source/BitTorrent_(protocol)) protocol were released. Until its decline in 2004, Kazaa was the most popular file-sharing program despite bundled [malware](/source/Malware) and legal battles in the Netherlands, Australia, and the United States. In 2002, a Tokyo district court ruling shut down File Rogue, and the [Recording Industry Association of America](/source/Recording_Industry_Association_of_America) (RIAA) filed a lawsuit that effectively shut down Audiogalaxy.

Demonstrators protesting [The Pirate Bay raid](/source/The_Pirate_Bay_raid) in 2006

From 2002 through 2003, a number of [BitTorrent](/source/BitTorrent_(protocol)) services were established, including [Suprnova.org](/source/Suprnova.org), [isoHunt](/source/IsoHunt), [TorrentSpy](/source/TorrentSpy), and [The Pirate Bay](/source/The_Pirate_Bay). In September 2003, the [RIAA](/source/RIAA) began filing lawsuits against users of P2P file sharing networks such as Kazaa.[8] As a result of such lawsuits, many universities added file sharing regulations in their school administrative codes (though some students managed to circumvent them during after school hours). Also in 2003, the [MPAA](/source/MPAA) started to take action against BitTorrent sites, leading to the shutdown of Torrentse and Sharelive in July 2003.[9] With the shutdown of eDonkey in 2005, eMule became the dominant client of the eDonkey network. In 2006, police raids took down the [Razorback2](/source/Razorback2) eDonkey server and temporarily took down [The Pirate Bay](/source/The_Pirate_Bay).[10]

"The File Sharing Act was launched by Chairman Towns in 2009, this act prohibited the use of applications that allowed individuals to share federal information amongst one another. On the other hand, only specific file sharing applications were made available to federal computers" (the United States.Congress.House). In 2009, the [Pirate Bay trial](/source/Pirate_Bay_trial) ended in a guilty verdict for the primary founders of the tracker. The decision was appealed, leading to a second guilty verdict in November 2010. In October 2010, Limewire was forced to shut down following a court order in *[Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC](/source/Arista_Records_LLC_v._Lime_Group_LLC)* but the Gnutella network remains active through open source clients like [FrostWire](/source/FrostWire) and [gtk-gnutella](/source/Gtk-gnutella). Furthermore, multi-protocol file-sharing software such as [MLDonkey](/source/MLDonkey) and [Shareaza](/source/Shareaza) adapted to support all the major file-sharing protocols, so users no longer had to install and configure multiple file-sharing programs.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

On January 19, 2012, the [United States Department of Justice](/source/United_States_Department_of_Justice) shut down the popular domain of [Megaupload](/source/Megaupload) (established 2005). The file sharing site has claimed to have over 50,000,000 people a day.[11] [Kim Dotcom](/source/Kim_Dotcom) (formerly Kim Schmitz) was arrested with three associates in New Zealand on January 20, 2012, and is awaiting extradition.[12][13] The case involving the downfall of the world's largest and most popular file sharing site was not well received, with hacker group [Anonymous](/source/Anonymous_(group)) bringing down several sites associated with the take-down.[11] In the following days, other file sharing sites began to cease services; [FileSonic](/source/FileSonic) blocked public downloads on January 22,[14] with [Fileserve](/source/FileServe) following suit on January 23.[15]

In 2021 a [European Citizens' Initiative](/source/European_Citizens'_Initiative) "Freedom to Share" started collecting signatures in order to get the [European Commission](/source/European_Commission) to discuss (and eventually make rules) on this subject, which is controversial.[16]

### Techniques used for video sharing

From the early 2000s until the mid-2010s, online video streaming was usually based on the [Adobe Flash Player](/source/Adobe_Flash_Player). After more and more vulnerabilities in Adobe's flash became known, [YouTube](/source/YouTube) switched to HTML5 based video playback in January 2015.[17]

## Types

### Peer-to-peer file sharing

[Peer-to-peer file sharing](/source/Peer-to-peer_file_sharing) is based on the [peer-to-peer](/source/Peer-to-peer) (P2P) application architecture. [Shared files](/source/Shared_resource) on the computers of other [users](/source/User_(computing)) are indexed on directory servers. P2P technology was used by popular services like [Napster](/source/Napster) and [LimeWire](/source/LimeWire). The most popular protocol for P2P sharing is [BitTorrent](/source/BitTorrent).

### File sync and sharing services

Screenshot of an open-source file-sharing software [Shareaza](/source/Shareaza)

[Cloud-based](/source/Cloud_computing) [file syncing and sharing](/source/File_synchronization) services implement automated file transfers by updating files from a dedicated sharing directory on each user's networked devices. Files placed in this folder also are typically accessible through a website and mobile app and can be easily shared with other users for viewing or collaboration. Such services have become popular via consumer-oriented [file hosting services](/source/File_hosting_service) such as [Dropbox](/source/Dropbox_(service)) and [Google Drive](/source/Google_Drive). With the rising need of sharing big files online easily, new [open access](/source/Open_access) sharing platforms have appeared, adding even more services to their core business (cloud storage, multi-device synchronization, online collaboration), such as [ShareFile](/source/ShareFile), [Tresorit](/source/Tresorit), [WeTransfer](/source/WeTransfer), [Smash](/source/Smash_(file_transfer_service)) or [Hightail](/source/Hightail).

### Private file sharing

In addition to public cloud services and external sharing platforms, file sharing can also be implemented within a private organizational environment. Private file sharing systems are typically deployed on internal networks or dedicated infrastructure, where file access is provided by [file servers](/source/File_server) or [network-attached storage](/source/Network-attached_storage) devices.

Such systems generally include user authentication and access control mechanisms, allowing files to be accessed only by authorized users. Compared with public sharing platforms, private file sharing places greater emphasis on data ownership, administrative control, and internal collaboration, and is commonly used in enterprise, educational, and research settings.

[rsync](/source/Rsync) is a more traditional program released in 1996 which synchronizes files on a direct machine-to-machine basis.

[Data synchronization](/source/Data_synchronization) in general can use other approaches to share files, such as [distributed file systems](/source/Distributed_filesystem), [version control](/source/Version_control), or [mirrors](/source/Web_mirror).

## Academic file sharing

In addition to file sharing for the purposes of entertainment, academic file sharing has become a topic of increasing concern,[18][19][20] as it is deemed to be a violation of [academic integrity](/source/Academic_integrity) at many schools.[18][19][21] Academic file sharing by companies such as [Chegg](/source/Chegg) and [Course Hero](/source/Course_Hero) has become a point of particular controversy in recent years.[22] This has led some institutions to provide explicit guidance to students and faculty regarding academic integrity expectations relating to academic file sharing.[23][24]

## Public opinion of file sharing

In 2004, there were an estimated 70 million people participating in online file sharing.[25] According to a [CBS News](/source/CBS_News) poll in 2003, 58% of [Americans](/source/United_States) who follow the file-sharing issue, considered it acceptable "if a person owns the music CD and shares it with a limited number of friends and acquaintances"; with 18- to 29-year-olds, this percentage reached as much as 70%.[26]

In his survey of file-sharing culture, Caraway (2012) noted that 74.4% of participants believed musicians should accept file sharing as a means for promotion and distribution.[27] This file-sharing culture was termed as [cyber socialism](/source/Cyber_socialism), whose legalisation was not the expected [cyber-utopia](/source/Cyber-utopianism).[*[clarification needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify)*].[28][29]

## Economic impact

According to David Glenn, writing in *[The Chronicle of Higher Education](/source/The_Chronicle_of_Higher_Education)*, "A majority of economic studies have concluded that file-sharing hurts sales".[30] A literature review by Professor Peter Tschmuck found 22 [independent studies](/source/Independent_study) on the effects of music file sharing. "Of these 22 studies, 14 – roughly two-thirds – conclude that unauthorized downloads have a 'negative or even highly negative impact' on recorded music sales. Three of the studies found no significant impact while the remaining five found a positive impact."[31][32]

A study by economists [Felix Oberholzer-Gee](/source/Felix_Oberholzer-Gee) and Koleman Strumpf in 2004 concluded that music file sharing's effect on sales was "statistically indistinguishable from zero".[33][34] This research was disputed by other economists, most notably Stan Liebowitz, who said Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf had made multiple assumptions about the music industry "that are just not correct."[33][35] In June 2010, *Billboard* reported that Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf had "changed their minds", now finding "no more than 20% of the recent decline in sales is due to sharing".[36] However, citing [Nielsen SoundScan](/source/Nielsen_SoundScan) as their source, the co-authors maintained that illegal downloading had not deterred people from being original. "In many creative industries, monetary incentives play a reduced role in motivating authors to remain creative. Data on the supply of new works are consistent with the argument that file-sharing did not discourage authors and publishers. Since the advent of file sharing, the production of music, books, and movies has increased sharply."[37] Glenn Peoples of *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))* disputed the underlying data, saying "SoundScan's number for new releases in any given year represents new commercial titles, not necessarily new creative works."[38] The RIAA likewise responded that "new releases" and "new creative works" are two separate things. "[T]his figure includes re-releases, new compilations of existing songs, and new digital-only versions of catalog albums. SoundScan has also steadily increased the number of retailers (especially non-traditional retailers) in their sample over the years, better capturing the number of new releases brought to market. What Oberholzer and Strumpf found was better ability to track new album releases, not greater incentive to create them."[39]

A 2006 study prepared by Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz, published by [Industry Canada](/source/Industry_Canada), was "unable to discover any direct relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchases in Canada".[40] The results of this survey were similarly criticized by academics and a subsequent revaluation of the same data by George R. Barker of the [Australian National University](/source/Australian_National_University) reached the opposite conclusion.[41] "In total, 75% of P2P downloaders responded that if P2P were not available they would have purchased either through paid sites only (9%), CDs only (17%) or through CDs and pay sites (49%). Only 25% of people say they would not have bought the music if it were not available on P2P for free." Barker thus concludes; "This clearly suggests P2P network availability is reducing music demand of 75% of music downloaders which is quite contrary to Andersen and Frenz's much published claim."[42]

According to the 2017 paper "Estimating displacement rates of copyrighted content in the EU" by the [European Commission](/source/European_Commission), illegal usage increases game sales, stating "The overall conclusion is that for games, illegal online transactions induce more legal transactions."[43]

### Market dominance

A paper in the journal *[Management Science](/source/Operations_Research%3A_A_Journal_of_the_Institute_for_Operations_Research_and_the_Management_Sciences)* found that file-sharing decreased the chance of survival for low ranked albums on music charts and increased exposure to albums that were ranked high on the music charts, allowing popular and well-known artists to remain on the music charts more often. This hurt new and less-known artists while promoting the work of already popular artists and celebrities.[44]

A more recent study that examined pre-release file-sharing of music albums, using BitTorrent software, also discovered positive impacts for "established and popular artists but not newer and smaller artists." According to Robert G. Hammond of [North Carolina State University](/source/North_Carolina_State_University), an album that leaked one month early would see a modest increase in sales. "This increase in sales is small relative to other factors that have been found to affect album sales."

"File-sharing proponents commonly argue that file-sharing democratizes music consumption by 'levelling the playing field' for new/small artists relative to established/popular artists, by allowing artists to have their work heard by a wider audience, lessening the advantage held by established/popular artists in terms of promotional and other support. My results suggest that the opposite is happening, which is consistent with evidence on file-sharing behaviour."[45]

*Billboard* cautioned that this research looked only at the pre-release period and not continuous file sharing following a release date. "The problem in believing [piracy](/source/Copyright_infringement#"Piracy") helps sales is deciding where to draw the line between legal and illegal ... Implicit in the study is the fact that both buyers and sellers are required in order for pre-release file sharing to have a positive impact on album sales. Without iTunes, Amazon, and Best Buy, file-sharers would be just file sharers rather than purchasers. If you carry out the 'file-sharing should be legal' argument to its logical conclusion, today's retailers will be tomorrow's file-sharing services that integrate with their respective [cloud storage services](/source/Cloud_storage_service)."[46]

### Availability

Many argue that file-sharing has forced the owners of entertainment content to make it more widely available legally through fees or advertising on-demand on the internet. In a 2011 report by [Sandvine](/source/Sandvine) showed that [Netflix](/source/Netflix) traffic had come to surpass that of [BitTorrent](/source/BitTorrent).[47]

## Copyright issues

Main article: [Legal aspects of file sharing](/source/Legal_aspects_of_file_sharing)

File sharing raises copyright issues and has led to many lawsuits. In the [United States](/source/United_States), some of these lawsuits have even reached the [Supreme Court](/source/United_States_Supreme_Court). For example, in *[MGM v. Grokster](/source/MGM_Studios%2C_Inc._v._Grokster%2C_Ltd.)*, the Supreme Court ruled that the creators of P2P networks can be held liable if their software is marketed as a tool for copyright infringement.

On the other hand, not all file sharing is illegal. Content in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain) can be freely shared. Even works covered by [copyright](/source/Copyright) can be shared under certain circumstances. For example, some artists, publishers, and [record labels](/source/Record_label) grant the public a license for unlimited distribution of certain works, sometimes with conditions, and they advocate [free content](/source/Free_content) and file sharing as a promotional tool.[48]

## See also

- [Internet portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Internet)

- [Comparison of file-sharing applications](/source/Comparison_of_file-sharing_applications)

- [File-hosting service](/source/File-hosting_service)

- [File sharing news sites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:File_sharing_news_sites)

- [Graduated response](/source/Graduated_response)

- [*Love for Sale* (Bilal album)](/source/Love_for_Sale_(Bilal_album)), an unreleased but infamously pirated album by [Bilal](/source/Bilal_(American_singer))[49]

- [Missionary Church of Kopimism](/source/Missionary_Church_of_Kopimism)

- [Open Music Model](/source/Open_Music_Model)

- [Publius (publishing system)](/source/Publius_(publishing_system))

- [Torrent poisoning](/source/Torrent_poisoning)

- [Trade group efforts against file sharing](/source/Trade_group_efforts_against_file_sharing)

- [Warez](/source/Warez)

## References

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Lanxon, Nate. ["Filesonic, Fileserve pull file-sharing services following Megaupload arrests"](https://www.wired.co.uk/article/filesonic-file-sharing-offline). *Wired*. Condé Nast Britain. Retrieved January 5, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Ernesto Van der Sar (December 17, 2020). [""Freedom to Share" Launches EU Citizens' Initiative to Legalize File-Sharing"](https://torrentfreak.com/freedom-to-share-launches-eu-citizens-initiative-to-legalize-filesharing-201217/). *TorrentFreak*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210218090937/https://torrentfreak.com/freedom-to-share-launches-eu-citizens-initiative-to-legalize-filesharing-201217/) from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** McCormick, Rich (January 27, 2015). ["YouTube drops Flash for HTML5 video as default"](https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/27/7926001/youtube-drops-flash-for-html5-video-default). *The Verge*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190402075002/https://www.theverge.com/2015/1/27/7926001/youtube-drops-flash-for-html5-video-default) from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2020.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_18-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_18-1) Rogerson, A.M. (2014). *Detecting the work of essay mills and file swapping sites: some clues they leave behind*. Semantic Scholar. [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [106581372](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:106581372).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_19-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_19-1) Rogerson, A.M.; Basanta, G. (February 5, 2016). ["Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Academic Integrity in the Internet Age"](https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_55). *Handbook of Academic Integrity*. Springer Nature. pp. 273–285. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-981-287-098-8_55](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-981-287-098-8_55). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-981-287-098-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-981-287-098-8). Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-AID_1_20-0)** Eaton, S.E. (July 12, 2020). ["Academic Integrity During COVID-19: Reflections From the University of Calgary"](https://prism.ucalgary.ca/items/3817c241-3d4b-433e-b424-e955e81c0b48). *International Studies in Educational Administration*. **48** (1). Commonwealth Council for Educational Administration and Management: 80–85. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ASI_1_21-0)** Butler, J. (April 15, 2020). ["Arts & Sciences investigates Physics 192 academic integrity breach"](https://www.studlife.com/news/2020/04/15/arts-sciences-investigates-physics-192-academic-integrity-breach). Washington University Student Media, Inc. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LT_1_22-0)** McKenzie, L. (May 13, 2018). ["Learning Tool or Cheating Aid?"](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/14/professors-warned-about-popular-learning-tool-used-students-cheat). Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NSS_1_23-0)** ["Information for Faculty: Note-sharing sites"](https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=34999338). Sheridan College. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CSG_1_24-0)** ["Copyright for Students"](https://sheridancollege.libguides.com/copyright_students/home). Sheridan College. July 30, 2023. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Delgado, Ray (March 17, 2004). ["Law professors examine ethical controversies of peer-to-peer file sharing"](http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/march17/fileshare-317.html). *Stanford Report*. [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080625030926/http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/march17/fileshare-317.html) from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Poll: Young Say File Sharing OK"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-young-say-file-sharing-ok/). *[CBS News](/source/CBS_News)*. February 11, 2009. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20111130162846/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/18/opinion/polls/main573990.shtml) from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Caraway, Brett Robert (2012). ["Survey of File-Sharing Culture"](http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1216/720). *[International Journal of Communication](/source/International_Journal_of_Communication)*. [USC Annenberg Press](/source/USC_Annenberg_Press), [Creative Commons license](/source/Creative_Commons_license) (by-nc-nd). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090451/http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1216/720) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 25, 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** Filby, Michael (2011). ["Regulating File Sharing: Open Regulations for an Open Internet"](https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fjcolate6&div=24&id=&page=). *Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology*. **6**: 207. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230117180023/https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fjcolate6&div=24&id=&page=) from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-cybers_29-0)** Filby, Michael (January 1, 2008). ["Together in electric dreams: cyber socialism, utopia and the creative commons"](https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJPL.2008.019435). *International Journal of Private Law*. **1** (1–2) 19435: 94–109. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1504/IJPL.2008.019435](https://doi.org/10.1504%2FIJPL.2008.019435). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1753-6235](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1753-6235). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230117180020/https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJPL.2008.019435) from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved December 28, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-HigherEdu_30-0)** Glenn, David (July 17, 2008). ["Dispute Over the Economics of File Sharing Intensifies"](https://www.chronicle.com/article/dispute-over-the-economics-of-file-sharing-intensifies-989/). *The Chronicle of Higher Education*. Washington, D. C. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210415085131/https://www.chronicle.com/article/dispute-over-the-economics-of-file-sharing-intensifies-989/) from the original on April 15, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Hart, Terry. [More Evidence for Copyright Protection](http://www.copyhype.com/2012/02/more-evidence-for-copyright-protection/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120205093806/http://www.copyhype.com/2012/02/more-evidence-for-copyright-protection/) February 5, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), copyhype.com, February 1, 2012. "The literature review looked at a 23rd study but did not classify it here since the author presented a mixed conclusion: the overall effect of unauthorized downloads is insignificant, but for unknown artists, there is a 'strongly negative' effect on recorded music sales."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** AJ Sokolov, Daniel . [Wissenschaftler: Studien über Tauschbörsen unbrauchbar](http://www.heise.de/ct/meldung/Wissenschaftler-Studien-ueber-Tauschboersen-unbrauchbar-1020532.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20130603034104/http://www.heise.de/ct/meldung/Wissenschaftler-Studien-ueber-Tauschboersen-unbrauchbar-1020532.html) June 3, 2013, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), *[c't](/source/C't)* magazine, June 11, 2010.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-levine_33-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-levine_33-1) Levine, Robert. *Free Ride: How the Internet Is Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back*, Bodley Head, February 2011, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1847921485](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1847921485).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Oberholzer, Felix; Koleman Strumpf. ["The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales: An Empirical Analysis"](http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080613031108/http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf) (PDF) from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-HRI_1_35-0)** Liebowitz, Stan J. (September 23, 2007). ["How Reliable is the Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf Paper on File-Sharing?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100827225353/http://musicbusinessresearch.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/paper-stan-j-liebowitz1.pdf) (PDF). *Intellectual Property: Copyright Law eJournal*. ResearchGate GmbH. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.2139/ssrn.1014399](https://doi.org/10.2139%2Fssrn.1014399). Archived from [the original](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228172429) on August 27, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** Peoples, Glenn. [Researchers Change Tune, Now Say P2P Has Negative Impact](http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i82a006de3290b1a63323f3e4ee910ca9) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20101209002810/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i82a006de3290b1a63323f3e4ee910ca9) December 9, 2010, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) *Billboard*. June 22, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** Oberholzer & Strumpf. "File Sharing and Copyright" *NBER Innovation Policy & the Economy*, Vol. 10, No. 1, 2010. "Artists receive a significant portion of their remuneration not in monetary form – many of them enjoy fame, admiration, social status, and free beer in bars – suggesting a reduction in monetary incentives might possibly have a reduced impact on the quantity and quality of artistic production."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** Peoples, Glenn. [Analysis: Are Musicians Losing the Incentive to Create?](http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ic193b6eacf48409b52f1ab027d2d2b6c) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20101103010017/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ic193b6eacf48409b52f1ab027d2d2b6c) November 3, 2010, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. July 26, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** Friedlander, Joshua P. & Lamy, Jonathan. [Illegal Downloading = Fewer Musicians](http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/view_35.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120121074926/http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/view_35.pdf) January 21, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) ifpi.org, July 19, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** [The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study for Industry Canada](http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ippd-dppi.nsf/en/h_ip01456e.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080914010619/http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ippd-dppi.nsf/en/h_ip01456e.html) September 14, 2008, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** Peoples, Glenn. [A New Look at an Old Survey Finds P2P Hurts Music Purchases](http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/business-matters-a-new-look-at-an-old-survey-1006083952.story) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120206050415/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/business-matters-a-new-look-at-an-old-survey-1006083952.story) February 6, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine), *Billboard*. February 2, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** Barker, George R. [Evidence of the Effect of Free Music Downloads on the Purchase of Music CDs](https://ssrn.com/abstract=1990153) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120205104922/https://ssrn.com/abstract=1990153) February 5, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) [Social Science Research Network](/source/Social_Science_Research_Network). January 23, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** ["Estimating displacement rates of copyrighted content in the EU"](https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_study.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180120001830/https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2017/09/displacement_study.pdf) (PDF) from the original on January 20, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** Bhattacharjee, Sudip., Gopal, Ram D., Lertwachara, Kaveepan. Marsden, James R. & Telang, Rahul. [The Effect of Digital Sharing Technologies on Music Markets: A Survival Analysis of Albums on Ranking Charts](http://mansci.journal.informs.org/content/53/9/1359.full.pdf+html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120214152135/http://mansci.journal.informs.org/content/53/9/1359.full.pdf+html) February 14, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) *Management Science* 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** Hammond. Robert G. "[Profit Leak? Pre-Release File Sharing and the Music Industry](http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rghammon/Hammond_File_Sharing_Leak.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120523032458/http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rghammon/Hammond_File_Sharing_Leak.pdf) May 23, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)" May 2012. File sharing benefits mainstream albums such as pop music but not albums in niche genres such as indie music. ... Further, the finding that file sharing redistributes sales toward established/popular artists is inconsistent with claims made by proponents of file sharing that file-sharing democratizes music consumption."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** Peoples, Glenn. [Business Matters: Pre-release File Sharing Helps Album Sales, Says a Study. So Why Not Replicate This Legally?](http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/business-matters-pre-release-file-sharing-1007125352.story) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120525073225/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/business-matters-pre-release-file-sharing-1007125352.story) May 25, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) *Billboard*. May 22, 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** [Global Internet Phenomena Report - Spring 2011](https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/2011/05/SandvineGlobalInternetSpringReport2011.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120113020428/http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/epicenter/2011/05/SandvineGlobalInternetSpringReport2011.pdf) January 13, 2012, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Sandvine Global Internet Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. May 12, 2011

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** [*Secure Federal File Sharing Act : Report (to Accompany H.r. 4098) (Including Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office)*](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015085442476;view=1up;seq=1). United States. March 11, 2010. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180920183315/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015085442476;view=1up;seq=1) from the original on September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** Larrier, Travis (March 4, 2013). ["Bilal Is the Future (And the Present ... And the Past)"](https://theshadowleague.com/bilal-is-the-future-and-the-present-and-the-past/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c2ffa10bef1f424fb252543ee09315d038103bd2-1595252623-0-AQaQvFZEknRWDZtLz_-KpHpRYNhNqscHTfCHp6Tr8hduX5gs6uyAaQfef1hB3snODkYFwgSlXH9pQZS_OgmovWZg1dxWOfdv6KYaotwCiVhAfOA1NooyRIZBbQ7AuwrnezemOt0aOvC5JqXaUG-ixf6x0eEfcLz6_aB4mZaVUtX5eXwwFSBkfNJmBxG6In4wWiDOMJXhVyzdm_YyrRyUJNYEEsTZ9jXVjo4xZCyDtxOzub5oRn9F3uGLl4IYob_-oI06lSh6NUnbSSYC8SejeXAaDrJ45SThoPXWHhy2_qU8bC0XPFFKmGzELGJ4Di6R6VT6lqtMNIwnKTLQL7_EXDk). *The Shadow League*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200720152846/https://theshadowleague.com/bilal-is-the-future-and-the-present-and-the-past/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=c2ffa10bef1f424fb252543ee09315d038103bd2-1595252623-0-AQaQvFZEknRWDZtLz_-KpHpRYNhNqscHTfCHp6Tr8hduX5gs6uyAaQfef1hB3snODkYFwgSlXH9pQZS_OgmovWZg1dxWOfdv6KYaotwCiVhAfOA1NooyRIZBbQ7AuwrnezemOt0aOvC5JqXaUG-ixf6x0eEfcLz6_aB4mZaVUtX5eXwwFSBkfNJmBxG6In4wWiDOMJXhVyzdm_YyrRyUJNYEEsTZ9jXVjo4xZCyDtxOzub5oRn9F3uGLl4IYob_-oI06lSh6NUnbSSYC8SejeXAaDrJ45SThoPXWHhy2_qU8bC0XPFFKmGzELGJ4Di6R6VT6lqtMNIwnKTLQL7_EXDk) from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.

## Further reading

- Levine, Robert. *Free Ride: How the Internet Is Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back*, Bodley Head, February 2011.

- [Ghosemajumder, Shuman](/source/Shuman_Ghosemajumder). *[Advanced Peer-Based Technology Business Models](http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/8438)*. [MIT Sloan School of Management](/source/MIT_Sloan_School_of_Management), 2002

- Silverthorne, Sean. *[Music Downloads: Pirates- or Customers?](http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4206&t=innovation) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20060630024153/http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4206&t=innovation) June 30, 2006, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine)*. [Harvard Business School Working Knowledge](/source/Harvard_Business_School), 2004.

- Ralf Steinmetz, Klaus Wehrle (Eds). [Peer-to-Peer Systems and Applications](https://web.archive.org/web/20051103051636/http://www.peer-to-peer.info/). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-540-29192-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-540-29192-X), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 3485, September 2005

- Stephanos Androutsellis-Theotokis and Diomidis Spinellis. [A survey of peer-to-peer content distribution technologies](http://www.spinellis.gr/pubs/jrnl/2004-ACMCS-p2p/html/AS04.html). ACM Computing Surveys, 36(4):335–371, December 2004. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1145/1041680.1041681](https://doi.org/10.1145%2F1041680.1041681).

- Stefan Saroiu, P. Krishna Gummadi, and Steven D. Gribble. [A Measurement Study of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Systems](http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~almeroth/classes/F02.276/papers/p2p-measure.pdf). Technical Report # UW-CSE-01-06-02. Department of Computer Science & Engineering. The University of Washington. Seattle, WA, USA.

## External links

- Media related to [File sharing](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:File_sharing) at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Peer-to-peer file sharing Networks, protocols Centralized Direct Connect Soribada Soulseek XDCC Decentralized BitTorrent DAT eDonkey FastTrack Fopnu Hyphanet GNUnet Gnutella Gnutella2 I2P IPFS Kad LBRY OpenFT OnionShare Perfect Dark Retroshare Share Tribler WebTorrent WinMX Winny ZeroNet Historic Audiogalaxy CuteMX Hotline Kazaa LimeWire Morpheus Napster Scour Usenet WASTE Comparisons of clients Advanced Direct Connect BitTorrent Direct Connect Gnutella Gnutella2 WebTorrent Hyperlinks eD2k Magnet Metalink Uses Backup Broadcatching Disk sharing Game and video sharing Image sharing Music sharing Peercasting Seedboxes Sharing software Web hosting (Freesite, IPFS, ZeroNet) Legal aspects Concepts Privacy Anonymous P2P Darknet Darkweb Friend-to-friend Open music model Private P2P Tor Internal technologies Distributed hash table Merkle tree NAT traversal Peer exchange BitTorrent protocol encryption SHA-1 SHA-2 Super-seeding BitTorrent tracker UDP hole punching Micro Transport Protocol

v t e Computer files Types Binary file / text file Data file File format List of file formats List of File signatures Magic number Open file formats Proprietary file formats Metafile Sidecar file Sparse file Swap file System file Temporary file Zero-byte file Properties Filename 8.3 filename Long filename Filename mangling Filename extension List of filename extensions File attribute Extended file attributes File size Hidden file / Hidden directory Organisation Directory/folder NTFS links Temporary folder Directory structure File system Filesystem Hierarchy Standard Grid file system Semantic file system Path Operations Open Close Read Write Linking File descriptor Hard link Shortcut Alias Shadow Symbolic link Management Backup File comparison File copying Data compression File manager Comparison of file managers File system fragmentation File-system permissions File transfer File sharing File synchronization File verification

v t e Software distribution Licenses Beerware Floating licensing Free and open-source Free Open source Freely redistributable License-free Proprietary Public domain Source-available Compensation models Adware Commercial software Retail software Crippleware Crowdfunding Freemium Freeware Pay what you want Careware Donationware Open-core model Postcardware Shareware Nagware Trialware Delivery methods Digital distribution File sharing On-premises Pre-installed Product bundling Retail software Sneakernet Software as a service Deceptive and/or illicit Unwanted software bundling Malware Infostealer Ransomware Spyware Trojan horse Worm Scareware Shovelware Software release life cycle Abandonware Long-term support Software maintenance Software maintainer Software publisher Vaporware list Copy protection Digital rights management Software protection dongle License manager Product activation Product key Software copyright Software license server Software patent Torrent poisoning

Authority control databases GND

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [File sharing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.