3.3.6. A P2P Timeline

Precursors

1979-1980—Usenet is created

1985—FTP specifications standardized

First Generation

1998—Audiogalaxy is launched; Digital Millennium Copyright Act passed

1999—Napster launched; First lawsuits against Napster (continue until 2001)

2001—A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. results in Napster being shut down

2002—Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sues Audiogalaxy

Decentralized Systems

2000—Gnutella network created

2001—Limewire client released (uses Gnutella network); FastTrack network created; Kazaa client released (uses FastTrack network); Grokster client released (uses FastTrack network); Morpheus client released (originally uses FastTrack network, switches to Gnutella in 2003)

2003—RIAA begins suing private citizens for file sharing; RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) win Supreme Court case against Grokster, site closed down

2008—Morpheus client shuts down due to pending lawsuits

BitTorrent

2001—BitTorrent created

2002—Suprnova.org launches (torrent index)

2003—The Pirate Bay launches (torrent index); isoHunt launches (torrent index); TorrentSpy launches (torrent index)

2004—LokiTorrent launches (torrent index); MPAA issues cease and desist orders and many small BitTorrent sites close down

2005—LokiTorrent shuts down; Mininova launches (torrent index)

2006—Swedish police raid The Pirate Bay; the service continues to function

2007—The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), the MPAA and the RIAA continue to issue legal threats toward many BitTorrent sites; police raids continue on servers in a number of countries

2008—TorrentSpy shut down; Italy redirects all Internet traffic within its borders away from The Pirate Bay and forwards it to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) Web site