Peer to peer technology is just a technology. It can be used for
sharing copies of copyrighted music that the RIAA wants you to purchase, or sharing copies of academic literature that academics want to share. One kind of sharing does not have the consent of the person who created the content, the other does. The following two recent articles examine interesting aspects of P2P.
Florida Dorms Lock Out P2P Users
By Katie Dean, Wired Oct. 03, 2003, describes a technology that limits all p2p of all kinds which some complain turns “interactive computing into television” and “… has huge implications for academic freedom….”
Not Napster for Science
by Peter Suber, 2 Oct 2003, describes the differences between sharing music
and open access academic literature.
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