Find out what using a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-swapping service is all about

"Is P2P right for me?" That's the question we may want to ask ourselves if we're one of the millions of people who swap music files on the Internet or if we've heard about P2P and are thinking about checking it out.

P2P stands for "peer-to-peer." When we use P2P software, our computer's hard drive becomes a server that allows someone else to access files stored on our computer. In short: another computer user can connect directly to our computer and download whatever music files we've stored there (and vice versa.) There's no "middle man," no central network or Web site that's storing the music - we're storing the music. So, many times, when we download music, we also are "uploading" music - making all our music available for others to download.

Sounds great, right? P2P has become enormously popular because, for many fans, it means "free music." And some artists think it's great that their music is available to millions of people for free, because it gets their tunes out there for fans to sample.

The only problem is: P2P music swapping is illegal and can be dangerous. Check it out:

But how can it be illegal if there are P2P Web sites out there, that are still up and running?
These sites don't store or deliver any music. (The sites that did were shut down, like the first Napster.) They just provide the software that allows P2P swapping to happen - and their argument is that neither the software itself nor the providing of it is illegal. However, this could all change. The Supreme Court decision that ruled that file-sharing services will be held liable if they promote unlawful use of their file-sharing services has already caused Grokster to be shut down, and who knows what could be next? In addition, the fact remains that if we download a song without paying and then share it with someone else via P2P, we're copying music and distributing it to others - and that's against the law, a direct violation of the Copyright Act. (To learn more about copyright, click here.)

So, if we're using a P2P service, we should know that we could be sued for copyright infringement.

Whether or not we think that this is fair, the law says that if we copy or distribute copyrighted music without legal permission, we can be prosecuted in criminal court or sued for damages in civil court. Penalties for first-time offenders, which may be both civil and criminal, can be severe and may include imprisonment for up to three years and fines of up to $250,000 and $150,000 per copyright infringement. Each person fined will be penalized on a per-case basis, meaning the courts will look at the number of songs file-swapped and the severity of the situation to come up with a penalty. See Owning Music for more information on copyrights.

What if my favorite artist agrees with - and encourages - file-swapping from illegal sites?
It seems that if our favorite artists say it's okay to download the music they've created, then it should be okay. We have permission from the artist, so we can legally download any song from that artist, right? Well, this is not always the case. Copyright law can be tricky, and the truth is, most of the time there is more than one copyright owner on every song. So just because an artist may agree with file-swapping networks, it doesn't mean it is legal for us to download their songs.

Viruses, Hacking and "Spyware" - Oh My!
Another downside of P2P is that, because other people access your hard drive directly, our computers are less private and more vulnerable to harmful viruses and hacking. We may think we're only downloading a music file, but it might contain a virus, like a Trojan horse, or other harmful computer code that could hurt our system. Some P2P software contains "spyware," or programming that's put in our computer to secretly gather information about our computer usage, which is then relayed to advertisers or other interested parties without us knowing about it. And sometimes, the software can allow users to search for and download not only our music files, but also other files in our computer, including those we consider to be confidential.

How to Stop Swapping
P2P is a great technology, but when it comes to copyrighted material like music or movies, P2P users run the risk of breaking the law. Therefore, it is important to weigh the benefits with the potential legal and technical risks of using a P2P service to download music.

If, after reading the information on this site, we decide that we want to stop music swapping (or keep others from accessing our hard drive), here's what we can do:

• Uninstall the P2P software or turn off the file-swapping capability of our P2P software. Visit the P2P site where we downloaded the software and follow the instructions for uninstalling or turning off file-swapping.
• Use legal music downloading sites (click here for an up-to-date list).
• Support our favorite artists by buying their music online or in a retail store.