Online File Sharing: Innovations in Media Consumption (Comedia)

It is apparent that file sharing on the Internet has become an emerging norm of media consumption―especially among young people. This book provides a critical perspective on this phenomenon, exploring issues related to file sharing, downloading, peer-to-peer networks, "piracy," and (not least) policy issues regarding these practices. Andersson Schwartz critically engages with the justificatory discourses of the actual file-sharers, taking Sweden as a geographic focus. By focusing on the example of Sweden―home to both The Pirate Bay and Spotify―he provides a unique insight into a mentality that drives both innovation and deviance and accommodates sharing in both its unadulterated and its compliant, business-friendly forms.

Jonas Andersson Schwarz is a Lecturer in the Department of Culture and Communication at Södertörn University, Sweden.