

1990 – Michael Sandrof adds Client-to-client protocol functionality to IRC client ircII allowing users to share files.Copper wire was common with fibre optic cable only becoming available late in the decade. Data compression technologies for audio and video (like MP3, AAC and MPEG) came into use towards the end of the 1990s. įTP, IRC and Usenet were the main vehicles for file sharing in this decade. August 1988 – Internet Relay Chat is created by Jarkko Oikarinen.1986 – Zmodem – another point-to-point binary transfer protocol, which had superior long-distance (high latency) transmission.1985 – Ymodem – a minor improvement to Xmodem.FTP allows files to be efficiently uploaded and downloaded from a central server. October 1985 – File Transfer Protocol is standardized in RFC 959, authored by Postel and Reynolds.1984 – Fidonet, an inter- BBS protocol that became widely available, is founded by Tom Jennings.This case would create some interpretative challenges to courts in applying the case to more recent file sharing technologies available for use on home computers and over the Internet. Universal City Studios, Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States finds that making individual copies of complete television shows for purposes of time-shifting is fair use.


As of 2021 alt.binaries.* newsgroups continue to serve files. Its primary purpose is to facilitate focused discussion threads within topical categories ( Usenet newsgroups), but it also allows the transfer of files.
