Siva Vaidhyanathan's 4-part essay series lays out the basic premise for his forthcoming book The Anarchist in the Library: Peer to peer is analogous to other forms of non-digital dissidence and social organisation, and will have an impact at the cultural and political level, as well as on the nation state. Media & The Net editor Bill Thompson argues that Vaidhyanathan has misunderstood the technology and overstretched his case; Sandy Starr thinks Vaidhyanathan falls too readily on the side of the anarchists; and Richard Barbrook takes it all in and churns out a compelling analysis of the internet's forgotten gift economy. Also: discuss P2P with Vaidhyanathan in the discussion forum.