Executive Summary
Peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing has been around since the late 1990’s and is widely used to illegally share and download music files. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a music industry trade group, claims that P2P file sharing has cost them billions of dollars in lost revenues over the past twelve years. After lawsuits have been filed against P2P companies and its users, the courts have determined that sharing and downloading unauthorized music files is considered copyright infringement. However, changes in the P2P technology and rulings by the courts have made it impossible for the music industry to eliminate illegal file sharing and downloading. I was interested in this topic because of the popularity of P2P file sharing over the past decade and the media attention it has received. I have also downloaded music files through a P2P service, and wanted to educate myself on the legalities of it. I had several misconceptions about this topic prior to researching including the different P2P technologies and the security issues of downloading the software. The music industry has sued numerous P2P services and thousands of users in an effort to stop illegal file sharing. They have put some P2P services out of business, but more and more have opened their doors. Thousands of consumers have been caught and ultimately settled claims with the music industry to avoid the cost of court. But people continue to share and download illegal music files. It is unclear what impact P2P file sharing and downloading has on the music industry. Both sides have their own estimates, though I believe the music industry is losing out on potential revenues due to P2P file sharing. P2P file sharing software can also impact users by bundling unwanted spyware, adware and viruses with the file sharing software and causing security and computer issues for the users. Some options for the music industry moving forward are to maintain the...