General

There are two major forms of the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing protocols, both of which conform to the ideals of live streams. Whether you are talking about the RSS syndication of broadcatching, or the broadcast of the iPod (podcasting), the general consensus is that your are talking about the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing networks.

Broadcatching was first brought to realization by Fen Labalme back in 1983, when he described the term as being an aggregated feed of data. The aggregator could then automatically receive and filter this data based on a set of variables determined by the independent user from multiple sources. Again in 1987, the tem was used again in a book by Stewart Brand as a means to help describe the concept of artificial intelligence and its interaction with the world. But it would not be until 2003 when Steve Gillmor came up with the idea of combining the concepts of the bit torrent protocol with an RSS feed as a means to continuously subscribe to media files from a given source. After many years and theorization, it would not be until 2004 when Andrew Grumet would officially integrate an RSS feed with a bit torrent peer to peer file sharing client.

The other form of live streaming peer to peer file sharing protocols is that of the podcast. The podcast actually derives its name as a conjunction of the iPod and broadcast, but that does not mean that you have to own an iPod. The concept of podcasting is very similar to broadcathing but it does not require a bit torrent peer to peer file sharing client rather it can accept the RSS feed straight through a website. The major difference is that accessing a podcast through a website allows one to download the media and place it on virtually any type of portable media device.

Regardless of the forms that are available, the 4th generation of peer to peer file sharing networks is here and you may have used one without even knowing it. For example, if you have ever used You Tube, then you have used one of the more basic forms of this generation of file sharing networks. Although you cannot actually download the file unless you have a download helper like one of the many add-ons available for Mozilla FireFox. But the entire You Tube network is available via an RSS feed right to practically any place you want it and that includes right to your desktop if you wish it to be so.

The point is that the peer to peer file sharing networks, regardless of which generation you prefer, are here to stay. As long as there is software and media files being made for the general public, and as long as the costs are too high, the file sharing networks will not be going anywhere other than up. As each new technology is created to prevent these programs from working, another technology is created just to counter it. It is a never ending battle between the copyrighters and those who believe that data should be shared freely amongst the others of the world.

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