Peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing is enabled by
software that treats users as both clients and servers. Users who engage in
file-sharing over a certain piece of P2P software typically do not communicate
with a single central server, as these programs tend to be very de-centralized
and the users tend to communicate directly with one another.
The origin of peer-to-peer file-sharing is
believed to exist in the Bulletin Board System (BBS), which was like an
intranet that could be dialed into using modems in order to exchange files and
messages. Other technology (such as Usenet) and file formats (such as RAR)
further enabled file-sharing to some extent over the years, however it was not
until the advent of Napster (a prominent file-sharing platform that became very
controversial) that file-sharing became a mainstream activity. After Napster
was shut down in 2001, a number of other file-sharing platforms sprouted up in
its place, some of which are still widely in use.
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