music-swapping
a.k.a. file-sharing services, file sharing, peer-to-peer, P2P The name for sharing music (or any other digital, downloadable file) online using a file-sharing service.
Napster: The granddaddy of the music-swapping services was shut down in 2000 after a federal appeals court ruling. Napster resurfaced as a legitimate music subscription service.
Kazaa: Once the biggest services after Napster, Kazaa gained a bad reputation for nasty adware and its user base tumbled. Later an Australian court ruled Kazaa must filter out copyrighted files.
Grokster: While it gained a high profile as a defendant in a lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court, Grokster's a small player among file-sharing services.
eDonkey: The most popular file-sharing service on the Net, eDonkey and other services like it are finding ways to share files legitimately.
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