P2P: From File Sharing to Meta-information Pooling

Dagiral, Eric and Dauphin, Florian (2005): P2P: From File Sharing to Meta-information Pooling. Published in: International Journal of Digital Economics No. 59 (September 2005): pp. 35-51.

Abstract

P2P networks have mainly been used for downloading cultural goods. This sociological research focuses on the practices and norms of users and designers. Drawing on a qualitative survey, it explores the many ways sharing takes place. It looks at P2P networks as file sharing communities and probes the underpinnings of such file sharing. This article particularly scrutinizes the way in which users are brought together in communities founded on exploration and discovery. The latest developments seem to point towards a type of community chiefly based on exchanging meta-information.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: Communications & Strategies
• Language: English
• Keywords: P2P; file sharing; online communities; meta-information; cultural goods; MP3
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D4 - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design > D43 - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection; H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H42 - Publicly Provided Private Goods; L - Industrial Organization > L4 - Antitrust Issues and Policies > L43 - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation; K - Law and Economics > K2 - Regulation and Business Law > K21 - Antitrust Law; L - Industrial Organization > L5 - Regulation and Industrial Policy > L51 - Economics of Regulation; L - Industrial Organization > L4 - Antitrust Issues and Policies > L41 - Monopolization ; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices; L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities > L96 - Telecommunications