sepia
04-16-2005, 02:41 AM
MS NBC (http://msnbc.msn.com)
By JJ Levy, Northwestern University
April 15, 2005
Just a few years ago, being able to download a new Radiohead song for free was considered a technological feat. Imagine sites where users could download every album, single, B-side, and full-length concert ever recorded by the band with the push of a button. They’re out there.
“When people ask me how I managed to get 64 hours of movies for a moviethon, I reply with that classic one-word answer,� Internet user ‘Loud-bob’ writes on an obscure web forum site. The answer: BitTorrent. “I don’t go into any more detail when pressed—most people assume that I’m just getting them off Kazaa and trying to sound as if I have connections or something,� adds the user.
File-sharing services like Kazaa, Napster, and iMesh have long been popular among college students with a taste for music, and bandwidth to spare. These controversial programs allow computer users to swap, among other things, single copyrighted MP3 songs and video clips. But ‘Loud-bob’ and others like him are not your casual file-traders; the methods they use stand poised to dramatically alter the domains of copyright law, file-sharing, and Internet media.
Read more (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7502939/site/newsweek/)
By JJ Levy, Northwestern University
April 15, 2005
Just a few years ago, being able to download a new Radiohead song for free was considered a technological feat. Imagine sites where users could download every album, single, B-side, and full-length concert ever recorded by the band with the push of a button. They’re out there.
“When people ask me how I managed to get 64 hours of movies for a moviethon, I reply with that classic one-word answer,� Internet user ‘Loud-bob’ writes on an obscure web forum site. The answer: BitTorrent. “I don’t go into any more detail when pressed—most people assume that I’m just getting them off Kazaa and trying to sound as if I have connections or something,� adds the user.
File-sharing services like Kazaa, Napster, and iMesh have long been popular among college students with a taste for music, and bandwidth to spare. These controversial programs allow computer users to swap, among other things, single copyrighted MP3 songs and video clips. But ‘Loud-bob’ and others like him are not your casual file-traders; the methods they use stand poised to dramatically alter the domains of copyright law, file-sharing, and Internet media.
Read more (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7502939/site/newsweek/)