Peer-to-peer is a communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session. Other models which it might be contrasted with include the client/server model and the master/slave model. In some instances, peer-to-peer communications is implemented by providing each communication node both server and client capabilities. Of late, peer-to-peer has come to describe applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange files directly with each other or through a mediating server.
Android is a Linux-based operating system designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by Google in conjunction with the Open Handset Alliance. Originally created by Android Inc., Android was unveiled in 2007 along with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.
The first Android-powered phone was sold in October 2008, and by the end of 2010 Android had become the world’s leading smartphone platform. While Android is designed mainly for smartphones and tablets, application of the operating system has also moved beyond mobile phones and tablets, now televisions, notebooks and cameras are some of the types of devices featuring Android.
It is the open and customizable nature of the operating system which allows it to be used on other electronics, and in 2011 Google introduced new home automaton technology which uses Android to control a range of household devices including light switches, power sockets and thermostats.
If the Android operating system were to take over other peers completely and overrule the operating system they are based on it would be called rooting.
This is the process of permitting users of smartphones, tablets, and other devices running the Android mobile operating system to gain privileged control (known as “root access”) within Android’s subsystem.
Rooting enables all the user-installed applications to run privileged commands that are typically not available to the devices in their stock configuration. Rooting is required for more advanced and potentially dangerous operations including modifying or deleting system files, removing carrier or manufacturer-installed applications, and low-level access to the hardware itself (rebooting, etc.). Normal rooting installation will installs the Superuser application, which supervises applications that are granted root or superuser rights.
A secondary operation, unlocking the device’s bootloader verification, is required to remove or replace the installed Operating System.
Unlike iOS jailbreaking, rooting is not necessary to run applications distributed outside of the Google Play Store, sometimes referred to as “sideloading”. The Android OS supports this feature natively in two ways: through the “Unknown sources” option in the Settings menu and through the Android Debug Bridge. However, some carriers, like AT&T, prevent the installation of applications not on the Store in firmware, although several devices are not subject to this rule.
On July 26, 2010, the U.S. Copyright office announced a new exemption making it officially legal to root a device and run unauthorized third-party applications, as well as the ability to unlock any cell phone for use on multiple carriers.
On October 28, 2012, the U.S. Copyright office updated their exemption policies. The rooting of smartphones continues to be legal “where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of lawfully obtained software applications with computer programs on the telephone handset.”