Internet p2p law

To simply define peer to peer technology is almost impossible. It is basically what the Web and the Internet are all about, but more to a sharing level. When Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, his idea was that every user would have an editor together with the browser, whereby he would not only look at the pages, but actively edit and contribute, which is very similar to a peer to peer idea. Nowadays, peer to peer is generally viewed as the file sharing network or capability of the Internet, mostly regarded as illegal and pursued by the law enforcement.
Peer to peer started very early, before the Web was invented, whereby the most widely spread and popular was the Usenet. The Usenet news server system, which is the full definition, was used by peers to exchange Usenet news articles using this system, whereby binary transmission was preferred. To this day, the Usenet is still in operation and the preferred release ground of underground material.
The next most popular peer to peer network and perhaps the most well known was Napster. The invention of Napster actually started the whole copyright infringement hunting craze by many agencies and IFPI, BSA and MPAA in particular. Recognition that copyrighted content was freely swapped between private persons, like they used to do with cassette tapes and video tapes before, raised a red flag to recording industry and movie industry behemoths, who under the guise to help out poor copyright holders with limited money income welcomed raiding 80 year old grandmothers and underage teenagers hoping to add another billion to their mind boggling fortune. As usual, the artist and composer see almost none of it. Instead of using such an advanced technology to exploit it legally by striking a deal with the inventor, the companies chose to ruin it for everybody. Well not really, they ruined it only for themselves, because other peer to peer networks almost immediately took over.
While the Internet law regarding peer to peer is still undecided, limited only to such copyright infringement cases, the very technology has proven to be very helpful and interesting. Bit Torrent, the latest “in” peer to peer network system, very popular and filled to the brim with illegal copyrighted material, provided breakthrough technology to such important widgets like Podcast and TVUPlayer.
In conclusion it should be noted that a co-existence would be more fruitful to all participants then a simple crackdown. But perhaps then the record companies and movie producers would have to come up with more quality material, whereby nagging about diminishing sales seems to be cheaper than scouting and paying for real talent.