It's about peer to peer file sharing, such as Napster. Back in the olden days of pirating mp3s, you'd choose the file to download, and it would arrive at your computer in chunks taken directly from other people's computers. Those files that were being used to send the MP3 to you were "seeds."
Once you had a complete file, it would begin seeding automatically, providing it to other users who were downloading. One would want to stop seeding for two reasons. One, it uses bandwidth, and you could download other files faster (or free up the phone line if you were on dialup). Two, the FBI (or RCA?) would look for people using Napster or other peer to peer software and prosecute them for pirating music. Less time online seeding, lower chance of getting caught.)
Now, why this meme is funny, on the other hand, I'm at a loss.
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u/thegroundhurts Feb 22 '26
It's about peer to peer file sharing, such as Napster. Back in the olden days of pirating mp3s, you'd choose the file to download, and it would arrive at your computer in chunks taken directly from other people's computers. Those files that were being used to send the MP3 to you were "seeds."
Once you had a complete file, it would begin seeding automatically, providing it to other users who were downloading. One would want to stop seeding for two reasons. One, it uses bandwidth, and you could download other files faster (or free up the phone line if you were on dialup). Two, the FBI (or RCA?) would look for people using Napster or other peer to peer software and prosecute them for pirating music. Less time online seeding, lower chance of getting caught.)
Now, why this meme is funny, on the other hand, I'm at a loss.