News 3 - Peer to Peer Network

1. One thing I learned in class is that nodes are computers or users and links are what connect the nodes to each other to form a network.

2. Also, I learned that there are different ways computers can connect to each other to form a network. One is client-server and the other is peer-to-peer. There are also hybrids of the two.

3. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9009143

4. The article from earlier this year talks about Microsoft’s release of Window’s Vista. Before the version for individuals was released, pirated versions of the software were already available for download using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer service.

I agree with the author this peer-to-peer file-sharing network is threatening Microsoft’s profit and no amount of consumer education will stop people from using the pirated software. Some readers of the article suggest that Microsoft should lower its prices on the software. Although I believe that it will alleviate the situation, people will still prefer the free version of the software if it is available through BitTorrent. In order for Microsoft to achieve the goal of anti-piracy, it will need technical solutions or to threaten lawsuits to reduce piracy.

BitTorrent is a fast and efficient way for users to exchange files between computers in a network. However, although there has been regulation on peer to peer services in the past, some file sharing networks continually fail to monitor the file-sharing, so there have been many pirated versions of music, video, and now software distributed this way. This technology is beneficial to the users. However, for certain businesses, this is not good because the value of their intellectual property is being chipped away.

Found another interesting article:
http://www.news.com/Congress-P2P-networks-harm-national-security/2100-1029_3-6198585.html