Before the Supreme Court ruling, the entertainment industry had taken other legal action to stop file-swappers.

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Besides helping the RIAA track down music pirates, Microsoft has successfully pushed for tougher penalties for software swappers.

CNN: The next piracy panic: Software

House swappers quickly realize they need to be open-minded and have a sense of humor about the unexpected inconveniences that can pop up.

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Lee Black, an analyst at Jupiter Research, estimates that such services have topped out at around 350, 000 subscribers, compared with tens of millions of file-swappers.

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There are inherent risks associated with swapping homes, but I believe most swappers are great guests for one simple reason: They, too, have left their homes in the care of strangers.

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It's a sad day for Spanish content pirates, as formerly lax laws allowing P2P file sharing for personal use have just been overturned in favor of strict new rules that make file swappers financially liable for any unauthorized downloading they partake in.

ENGADGET: Spain cracks down on file sharing