P2P stands for peer to peer file sharing. Peer to peer file sharing is accomplished by connecting one computer to another via the internet using the same software. The users set up the software to specify which of their computer files are public and which are private. Only the public files can be shared.
The one possibility that I keep thinking about as a teacher is the idea that I could use this technology to access files I have stored on my computer at school. There have been several times, planning lessons at home, when I realized that some file I needed was on the hard drive at school. P2P access would be a tremendous help in this area. I could practically eliminate those mornings when I am scrambling around trying to get something together before the students start arriving.
Several issues have arrived along with P2P file sharing. Many of the files that people may share are music and video files. This type of sharing has brought up many concerns about copyrights and lack of due payment to the artist of the song or video. There is obviously a trust issue that goes along with allowing others to directly access your computer. No one wants to be the victim of computer vandalism but it does occur. There is also concerns voiced by network administrators in education and business "...when users' workstations start doing the work of servers, technology people—accustomed to being responsible for what information people have and how they pass it along—start worrying about bandwidth and security."(Moore2001)