As overt static hosting to unauthorized copies of works (i.e. ĭownloading and streaming relates to the more general usage of the Internet to facilitate copyright infringement also known as 'software piracy'. The leading YouTube audio-ripping site agreed to shut down after being sued by a huge coalition of recording labels. Taking legal action against the technologies behind unauthorized 'file sharing' has proven successful for centralized networks like Napster, and untenable for decentralized networks like Gnutella or BitTorrent. Anonymous and open hosting servers make it difficult to hold hosts accountable. Open hosting servers allows people to upload files to a central server, which incurs bandwidth and hard disk space costs due to files generated with each download. Streaming and downloading can involve making copies of works that infringe on copyrights or other rights, and organizations running such websites may become vicariously liable for copyright infringement by causing others to do so. Websites that offer streaming media or media displayed in-browser, such as YouTube, increasingly place restrictions on the ability of users to save these materials to their computers after they have been received.ĭownloading is not the same as data transfer moving or copying data between two storage devices would be data transfer, but receiving data from the Internet or BBS is downloading.ĭownloading media files involves the use of linking and framing Internet material, and relates to copyright law. ISP = internet service provider.ĭownloading generally transfers entire files for local storage and later use, as contrasted with streaming, where the data is used nearly immediately, while the transmission is still in progress, and which may not be stored long-term. Download data is sent downstream to an end-user, upstream from the provider.