Internet is changing the world
Tim Riley UWIRE
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: Features
The world owes so much to the Internet. Without the Internet, how would one spend money while we make it at work? Without the Internet, where would one go to find the latest video of somebody injuring their genitals? But more importantly, without the Internet, where exactly would one go to get all the music, movies and games they have not been paying for since the sixth grade?
It is a fact of life on a college campus that almost every personal computer contains some sort of "illegally" obtained file. Whether it's the latest Nelly single, a poorly captured copy of "Underworld," or that million-dollar software your class requires, it always shimmies its way onto campus computers eventually. And while Napster's heyday ended last decade, there is always a way to find any digital material free of charge.
In 2001, Bram Cohen invented a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol that he dubbed BitTorrrent. This new method of distribution enabled thousands of people to simultaneously share and download the same file at rapid speeds without the centralized hub required for other methods. The only catch was there needed to be Web sites from which to download the small files that would power the downloading through BitTorrent programs.
At that time, numerous Web sites sprung up to battle for supremacy, but years later, one would clearly take reign as the largest, The Pirate Bay. Alexa Internet ranks The Pirate Bay Web site as the 109th most popular on the Internet. From their enormous site, one can find almost anything they desire whether that be a random Spider Man comic or the complete Josh Groban discography.
Of course, running a site such as this is not without great peril. Copyright holders tend to not take kindly to the free distribution of their material. During the nearly six years of the Web site's existence, it has been raided by authorities, hacked and widely condemned. It all comes with being what the Los Angeles Times called, "the most visible member of a burgeoning international anti-copyright - or pro-piracy - movement."
It is a fact of life on a college campus that almost every personal computer contains some sort of "illegally" obtained file. Whether it's the latest Nelly single, a poorly captured copy of "Underworld," or that million-dollar software your class requires, it always shimmies its way onto campus computers eventually. And while Napster's heyday ended last decade, there is always a way to find any digital material free of charge.
In 2001, Bram Cohen invented a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol that he dubbed BitTorrrent. This new method of distribution enabled thousands of people to simultaneously share and download the same file at rapid speeds without the centralized hub required for other methods. The only catch was there needed to be Web sites from which to download the small files that would power the downloading through BitTorrent programs.
At that time, numerous Web sites sprung up to battle for supremacy, but years later, one would clearly take reign as the largest, The Pirate Bay. Alexa Internet ranks The Pirate Bay Web site as the 109th most popular on the Internet. From their enormous site, one can find almost anything they desire whether that be a random Spider Man comic or the complete Josh Groban discography.
Of course, running a site such as this is not without great peril. Copyright holders tend to not take kindly to the free distribution of their material. During the nearly six years of the Web site's existence, it has been raided by authorities, hacked and widely condemned. It all comes with being what the Los Angeles Times called, "the most visible member of a burgeoning international anti-copyright - or pro-piracy - movement."
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