I am a Verizon DSL customer. Perhaps once a month I receive a newsletter, generally marketing their latest product or offering some tips. In the latest newsletter, they have a little tidbit regarding P2P and filesharing. Here is the paragraph that troubles me:
“Remove file sharing software from your computer. The way many popular file sharing software programs work is by allowing other users to access music or other files on your hard drive. P2P file sharing involves one Internet user requesting files from another unknown source. Aside from being illegal, file sharing can open your PC up to viruses, Trojan horses, and theft of your personal information.”
While P2P file sharing services are often used for illegal purposes, such as sharing copyrighted music, pirated software and movies, it is NOT ILLEGAL itself. Verizon is perpetuating a myth and discounting any legitamite uses for P2P software. For instance, I utilize BitTorrent to distribute videos that I have made or worked on to whomever is interested. This is clearly NOT illegal