File Sharing

File Sharing

Millions of files containing songs, videos, software, documents, and other materials are exchanged online every day through file sharing. While some file sharing is legal, in other cases people copy and trade copyrighted products such as music and movies without paying for them. This title presents the basic facts, history, and legal and ethical dimensions of the file-sharing debate. Readers learn about key copyright issues for sharing online materials, including how to avoid piracy, exchange files legally, and protect their own creative work, knowledge that is critical for 21st-century digital citizens.

Online File Sharing

It is apparent that file sharing on the Internet has become an emerging norm of media consumption—especially among young people. This book provides a critical perspective on this phenomenon, exploring issues related to file sharing, downloading, peer-to-peer networks, "piracy," and (not least) policy issues regarding these practices. Andersson Schwartz critically engages with the justificatory discourses of the actual file-sharers, taking Sweden as a geographic focus. By focusing on the example of Sweden—home to both The Pirate Bay and Spotify—he provides a unique insight into a mentality that drives both innovation and deviance and accommodates sharing in both its unadulterated and its compliant, business-friendly forms.

Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing Technology: Consumer Protection and Competition Issues: A Federal Trade Commission Staff Workshop Report (June 2005)