File Sharing Sites Coming To An End?

Friday - September 22, 2006 by Alexis Chase

Six years after the demise of Napster, peer-to-peer networks are still settling with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

According to CNET, last week P2P network eDonkey announced that they will settle a copywright-infringement lawsuit with the RIAA for $300 million and completely close the site. eDonkey2000 users prompted to update their software were forced to watch the product uninstall after initiating the update and visitors to the website are met with a message displaying visitor IP addresses and warning internet users that they are not anonymous online.

In August it was discovered that Kazaa settled with RIAA for $115 million and though still operational, P2P application Limewire is currently facing a $476 million lawsuit, which is expected to go to court next month.

Since the original Napster fallout many file sharers have drifted toward other sources - like the non-node-connected BitTorrent protocol which allows users to download files from multiple sources at the same time. The legality of many currently existing programs is still being decided, but some corporations are opting to form partnerships with technology providers in order to distribute their products via the internet. In May Warner Bros. opted to partner with BitTorrent, allowing their video content to be distributed online legally. As SOHH previously reported Warner Bros also recently partnered with internet video hosting site YouTube.com.

Technology experts are now speculating that after years of fighting costly lawsuits it's possible that conventional peer-to-peer networks may be coming to an end.