Full Description
It is apparent that file sharing on the Internet has become an emerging norm of media consumption—especially among young people. This book provides a critical perspective on this phenomenon, exploring issues related to file sharing, downloading, peer-to-peer networks, "piracy," and (not least) policy issues regarding these practices. Andersson Schwartz critically engages with the justificatory discourses of the actual file-sharers, taking Sweden as a geographic focus. By focusing on the example of Sweden—home to both The Pirate Bay and Spotify—he provides a unique insight into a mentality that drives both innovation and deviance and accommodates sharing in both its unadulterated and its compliant, business-friendly forms.
Contents
1. Outlining the Conflict: Observations and Potentials 2. Personal Justifications: Learning from the File-Sharers while Criticizing Them 3. Historical Foundations: The Nested Historiography of P2P-Based File-Sharing 4. Technical Limitations: The Stupid Net - How Protocols Instigate Behaviors and Configurations Online 5. Geographical Locations: The Pirate Bay and Sweden as a Case Study 6. Philosophical Implications: Mass Sharing as an Ubiquitous Backdrop to Everyday Life 7. Political Potentials: Occasional Activism Generating Strategic Sovereigns
