Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
arrangement were particularly controversial: a disc owner would be allowed to share a
disc only once, freedom to sell discs and buy secondhand titles was restricted, and Xbox
consoles would have to check in online every 24 hours to ensure that the authorized
software was up-to-date and that there was no unauthorized software [72]. In the midst
of the controversy, Amazon ran a Facebook poll to see which new gaming console
consumers were more interested in purchasing: the Microsoft Xbox One or the Sony
PlayStation 4. The PlayStation 4 was capturing 95 percent of the votes when Amazon
decided to shut down the poll early [73].
Microsoft did not waste time changing course. Thanking consumers for their “as-
sistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One,” Microsoft's Don Mattrick
announced that the controversial features of the licensing agreement were being dropped
[74]. In particular, he indicated consumers would be able to play Xbox One games with-
out being connected to the Internet, the Xbox One would not need to connect to the
Internet once every 24 hours, and consumers would be free to lend, rent, or sell their
discs. This reversal also meant that people would no longer have the ability to play their
games from any Xbox One console without the disc being in the tray.
On the Internet, the adjective
peer-to-peer
refers to a transient network allowing com-
puters running the same networking program to connect with each other and access
files stored on each other's hard drives (Figure 4.9). Peer-to-peer networks stimulate the
FIGURE 4.9
Some of the computers on the Internet run the same networking program to
form a peer-to-peer network. The network supports multiple simultaneous file transfers.
The files may contain digitized music, images, computer software, or other content.
