Napster, Gnutella and FreeNet are alternately depicted as evil purveyors of copyrighted material, and freedom fighters taking on the megacorporates in this Internet age of global connectivity and data autonomy. Peer-To-Peer looks at this old technology reborn in the Internet age - hailed as the next big thing by the trendy masses, but at the same time attacked by the suits and their corporate lawyers. It provides an insight into both the technologies and the personalities behind the hype, and answers some questions about the implications of this first Internet revolution of the 21st century.

There are 20 essayists contributing to Peer-To-Peer. You may notice that perhaps the most important name of them all is missing. Shawn Fanning, founder and creator of the Napster phenomenon, doesnt get any essay space and isnt even mentioned in the index. There are the odd references to him, such as Alexander Graham Bell is a peer-to-peer engineer but Shawn Fanning is not, but only in passing. Naturally, Napster manages to dominate the book despite this.

So this is a collection of essays from the people who are pioneering peer-to-peer networking projects today. While obviously not arguing that the technology is evil and should be stopped in its tracks, you do end up with a varied set of opinions. After all, people are coming at it from different angles; some see it as a money-spinning business opportunity, others as part of an ongoing battle to free information in the Internet age. All bring a truly interesting insight into how the technology has evolved, the problems faced so far and the hurdles to overcome in the future.

Davey Winder