Peer-to-Peer File Sharing

Technically, the term “peer to peer” (P2P) refers to the architecture of a network in which each node is not hierarchically connoted as simply a client or a server, but categorized according to its capabilities of hosting or receiving data. The fact that any node can be a peer means that it is both a client and a server at the same time. The only distinction is in the terminal nodes defined as host, which is essentially an exception or a new paradigm in the logic architecture of a network. These systems have become quite popular, beginning in 1999 with Napster, a software that allowed the exchange and downloading of music (especially of .mp3) without paying royalties. Napster struggled with music's major labels and copyright laws, which led to the evolution of a P2P-based system for illegally sharing and downloading digital content such as audio/video and software.