Illegal File Sharing

What Does Illegal File Sharing Mean?

Illegal file sharing is the process of sharing and distributing files illegally over a network or Internet.

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This includes the practice of distributing, selling or publishing copyrighted and protected content to the general public, usually over the Internet, or with a compact disk or external storage device.

Techopedia Explains Illegal File Sharing

Illegal file sharing is primarily done by “digital pirates.” They copy and upload proprietary material over the Internet for end-user viewing and download without the consent of the file owner. The shared file can be anything from a document, image, music or movie to software. Material shared illegally is also known as pirated media or content. P2P networks, torrent applications and many online movie streaming websites are common methods of illegal file sharing.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…