If you're unsure about "file-sharing" or "peer-to-peer" means, this is an excellent location, although somewhat technical, for more information:
Wikipedia:Peer to Peer - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer
Here's a short list of the possible Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs you may encounter on the web.
- BitTorrent - http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/
- Kazaa - http://www.kazaa.com/us/index.htm
- Kazaa Lite - http://www.kazaalitesite.com/
- Morpheus - http://www.morpheus.com/
- eDonkey - http://www.edonkey2000.com/
- Gnutella - http://www.gnutella.com/
- Freenet - http://freenet.sourceforge.net/
- Earthstation 5 - http://www.es5.com
- iMesh - http://www.imesh.com/
- Grokster - http://www.grokster.com/
Most of these will have the ability to allow you to download files, without allowing anyone to download from you. Thus far, the RIAA has only issued subpoenas for someone who is sharing songs...not for someone who has downloaded them. So how do you run your application without exposing your files to the Internet? Take a look at these sites for information on how to disable sharing on your P2P client.
- Disabling sharing in Kazaa - http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/kazaa/index.shtml
- What to do about your P2P application - http://www.oit.duke.edu/helpdesk/filesharing/steps.html
