anonymous FTP

Mechanism for downloading files from a website for which the user does not have an official password. In this arrangement, the user can access the public-sections of a site's data by using the word 'anonymous' for username, and his or her email address for the password. The user, however, cannot send (upload) files to the system or get access to its non-public sections. There are over a thousand such sites around the world containing more than a million files, made available free as a public service. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol.