P2P sharing eliminates the need for a central server to host files.111 Instead, the files are stored on the individual users’computers; when one downloads a file on a P2P network, he or she downloads the file from another user of the P2P network instead ofdownloading the file from a central location.112 Every member, or“peer,” acts as both a client (by requesting data from other peers)and as a server (by contributing a portion of their computing resources to the network as a whole).113 Napster is one of the earliest and most influential examples of P2P technology.114 In a typical Napster transaction, Peer A would request a file from Peer B, who stored the file on his own computer.115 Peer B would respond by
sending the file; Peer A would assist by contributing a portion of its resources to the transaction.116 Napster, however, suffered from a limitation because it used a central server to keep track of connected computers and the files available on them.117 Napster’s central server was its downfall—a court construed the central server as evidence that Napster knowingly facilitated copyright infringement.118