File sharing

File sharing is a practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such(a) as data processor programs, multimedia audio, images together with video, documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission in addition to dispersion include removable media, centralized servers on computer networks, Internet-based hyperlinked documents, and the use of distributed peer-to-peer networking.

File sharing technologies, such(a) as BitTorrent, are integral to innovative media piracy, as well as the sharing of scientific data and other free content.

Public notion of file sharing

In 2004 there were an estimated 70 million people participating in online file sharing. According to a CBS News poll in 2009, 58% of Americans who follow the file sharing issue, considered it acceptable "if a adult 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%.

In his survey of file-sharing culture, Caraway 2012 referenced that 74.4% of participants believed musicians should accept file sharing as a means for promotion and distribution. This file-sharing culture was termed as cyber socialism, whose legalisation was non expected - a utopia.