That was and still is the case. We just have forgotten about it. In the past it was SETI/napster/torrents/kazaa etc. Someone else mentioned minecraft servers. T

That was and still is the case. We just have forgotten about it. In the past it was SETI/napster/torrents/kazaa etc. Someone else mentioned minecraft servers. There are also lots of people running similar opensimulator servers at their home. Unfortunately laptops/tablets have thinned that crowd and the possibility of having such arrangements is smaller overall now.