p2pnet.net was an online news website which mainly covered stories which are relevant to peer-to-peer file sharing. p2pnet was a freedom of speech advocacty site published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, and as such actively encourages other sites to use its content, provided they keep within the restriction set by that license. It also takes advantage of other sites' Creative Commons licenses by republishing content from writers such as Bill Thompson. However, p2pnet's founder Jon Newton makes the point that he never re-publishes without having first contacted the authors, Creative Commons notwithstanding. It's now owned by purely commercial interests but segments can still be found on the Way Back Machine.
Goal
p2pnet.net focuses on digital media and file sharing. In their mission statement, they state that their ultimate goal is to help launch a non-profit, collaborative and censor-free international news service. They hope that on- and offline media outlets can access and exchange news which hasn't been influenced by corporate interests.
Staff
P2pnet's founder and editor is Jon Newton. He is an internationally published writer with many years of experience in different journalistic fields. He now runs p2pnet full-time.
Common contributing authors
On P2Pnet, there are several other people involved with submitting Jon tips about stories and opinions. There are also a few people who occasionally contribute full articles on news stories or opinions.
Dr. Michael Geist
Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He has written numerous academic articles and government reports on the Internet and law and is a columnist on technology law issues that regularly appears in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and BBC.
Mission statement
p2pnet.net's mission statement says it went online in August 2002 as the first Internet web page to carry daily, frequently updated news stories, features and commentaries discussing developments in the p2p and digital media arenas. It states: "p2pnet's focus is on digital media, distributed computing and file sharing, but the ultimate goal has always been to help launch a non-profit, collaborative and censor-free international news service through which on- and offline community print and electronic media outlets can access and exchange news which hasn't been spun, filtered and pre-digested by vested corporate interests."
p2pnet was recently sued by Sharman Networks, the parent company of Kazaa, in retaliation for compiling mainstream media reports regarding the company's financial dealings and providing an anonymous, open forum for readers to comment about it. Sharman Networks recently dropped its claim, however the Kazaa CEO Nikki Hemming lawsuit continues. Jon is contesting the suit on freedom of speech grounds.
Up for sale
As of 19 January 2007 it is reported that Jon Newton, the owner of p2pnet.net, has put the site up for sale inviting offers in excess of $30,000. It seems he can not longer afford to run the site after advertisers pulled out. Readers donations have not been able to replace the lost advertisting income. However, Newton was able to find a partner and p2pnet will continue. "It'll be a completely new deal," says Newton, "but that's cool and for the best. Change is what it's all about. Anything which stands still eventually rots. Ask the cartels : )"
Sold
On December 16, 2011 Jon Newton announced he will no longer be posting to p2pnet, and that the site had been sold.
The time has finally come for me to stop publishing p2pnet. I’m calling it a day mainly because of continuing health problems, and because, quite frankly, I’ve had enough of tilting at windmills.
Under new ownership, p2pnet will concentrate primarily on the issues, policies and technology to do with, and surrounding, social networking and cloud computing.
