In an age where file sharing has become as common as surfing the net, there are some dos and don'ts that the computer user should be aware of. The whole idea of file sharing is to let others access your hard drive and upload the files (programs or music files) that they want. By the same token you are allowed to download their files to your computer and this “peer to peer” system would appear to be ideal. As with many aspects in computer applications, this system of file sharing entails a lot more than meets the eye.
Privacy is a major issue when it comes to what you choose to share. Another issue that arises is the amount of adult oriented material that floats around on these file-sharing networks between millions of users. I've personally had the experience of my son looking for something that was an innocent child's movie, and then being bombarded with choices most of which were pornographic in nature. There are no real moderators as what is being shared is on the private hard drive of the user. One could virtually pull up anything from how to make a pipe bomb, to how to knit a sweater.
The privacy aspect is taken even further when one realizes that people have posed for pictures that others store on their hard drives. The people in the pictures don't necessarily want to be newcomers to the cyberspace world but sometimes this is inadvertently the case. Some may take offense that their face is plastered all around the Internet and we have to think long and hard as to the privacy and the confidentiality of others when we share our files.
Most file sharing programs let the user choose the files he/she wishes to share. By default however the program assumes that the user is sharing the whole hard drive unless the user in the setup of the program specifies otherwise. Many are shocked when they come across the tab for “my shared files” and find that they have exposed or shared more than some music and a few programs.
Years ago a program called Napster started the ball rolling and a huge lawsuit arose in the process. The musical content that is shared in these programs allows the user to virtually download an entire album at the cost of only their time searching for the songs.
This had caused many artists to launch lawsuits, which were eventually over-ruled in the Canadian courts, and people are free to download and burn music to disks to their hearts content.
On a technical level the frequency of computer viruses rises tenfold when using file-sharing programs. Regardless of the existence of a protective firewall on your system you are quite vulnerable to getting common ad Trojans and other computer related viruses when you engage in file sharing. Some programs actually turn off some safe guards or prompt the user to accept the ads that make up the revenue for the program itself. This makes your ad-ware and spy-ware programs useless in regards to these programs; (remove the ads and the programs will not function).
All this being said, is it worth it? This is a question for the user to decide for themselves. I will leave you with the advice to scan carefully and regularly for viruses (especially Trojans) on a frequent basis if you run one or more of these file-sharing programs.
