Peer to peer is direct data exchange between two computers. Today P2P is a synonym for the technics which allow internet users to exchange data between their computer directly without using a host-computer. Any kind of data can be exchanged: Text, pictures, sound, music, movies, programs, documents.
No, we dont need P2P. We could send the information also by eMail - or place it on WWW- or FTP-Server. Data exchange is a common technology today between the huge internet servers. They have alreay solved most of the speed and security issues. So we could live without it.
P2P makes us independent from others. All we need is a computer with an internet connection - and a piece of software. And more important: P2P gives us privacy. We dont store our data on third party harddisks - where admins or spys can access them. We stored them only on our own computers.
MyNews is exchanging data in form of newsgroups directly between the computers of the users.
MyNews has the best security features. The two most important things: MyNews is a standard news-server which cannot be hacked - and you have todo something actively (post a message) to share with others. The next very important point is that MyNews is not just trading files anonymously, but also text-messgaes, conversation, discussion. And it is compatible with the larges sharing network of the world: The Usenet (newsgroups).
This could be an endless (and daily growing) list. So here just a few popular links: