PROS AND CONS OF WEB AND FTP SITES

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Copying files from a file sharing network can be simple. Copying files through a website is slightly trickier, and copying files from an FTP site can be the clumsiest method yet. Given the obstacles in copying files from a web or FTP site, why would anyone want to do it?

The main reason to copy files from a web or FTP site is anonymity. If the recording industry is going to sue anyone, it will be the person running the web or FTP site, not the people who copy files from it.

Of course, downloading from a website isn’t completely anonymous either, because your browser gives information to websites, such as your monitor’s resolution and operating system, so that web pages are displayed correctly. More importantly, your browser must give away your IP address, which uniquely identifies your computer on the Internet. By giving your IP address away, your browser tells a website where to send text and graphics to display them. If your browser didn’t give away your IP address, any website you visited would have no idea which computer wanted to view its web pages. (Visit www.whatismyip.com to see how your browser gives away your IP address every time it connects to a website.) Unless you use an anonymous browsing service like Anonymizer (http://www.anonymizer.com), which strips away your IP address and other identifying information, downloading files from any website will always reveal your identity.

Note

Note Many file trading websites may do something known as drive-by downloading, which means that just visiting the site can install spyware on your computer without your knowledge.

Another reason why web and FTP sites are still popular for file sharing is that you can often find obscure files that you may never find on most file sharing networks. FTP sites usually offer every song from an album, and you can copy them all in one visit; file sharing networks, on the other hand, usually only offer the most popular songs from a particular album.

While file sharing networks may attract all the publicity, don’t overlook web and FTP sites for finding the files you want. With less legal risk, web and FTP sites offer a slower but safer alternative for file sharing.

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