Not yet Jim. I think if these guys really had a sense of humor they'd have called the program "Becky". >Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Delivered-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Reply-To: "Jim Fleming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "Jim Fleming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: "Richard J. Sexton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Fw: Maverick Programmers >Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 00:01:01 -0500 >X-MSMail-Priority: Normal >X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 > >Is the "root" floating ? > >> Maverick Programmers >> Prepare to Unleash >> Anarchy on the Web >> By Thomas E . Weber >> >> 03/27/2000 >> The Wall Street Journal >> Page B1 >> (Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) >> IF YOU THINK the Internet is an untamed frontier now, just wait. A new >> technology sweeping through cyberspace promises to unleash an entirely new >> wave of anarchy onto the Web, making it impossible for anyone to protect >> intellectual property online or shut down a rogue Web service. >> The early warning came March 14 from a tiny computer program called >> Gnutella. Created by renegade programmers at a unit of America Online, >> Gnutella lets people share computer files -- mainly music -- over the Net. >> AOL yanked the Gnutella Web site within a day, but it was too late. >Gnutella >> is humming with hundreds of people swapping Pink Floyd cuts, and no one >can >> stop them. >> The technology that makes Gnutella thrive is popping up all over the Net, >> and it goes way beyond just music. Known as a "distributed" or >> "peer-to-peer" approach, it's pretty much the opposite of the way the >World >> Wide Web works. On the Web, people get information from central >> repositories, or servers. Shutting down a server cripples a Web site, as >> demonstrated in last month's hacker attacks. >> ON A DISTRIBUTED system there is no central brain to attack. So there's >> almost no way to turn it off short of finding and unplugging every single >> machine connected to it. Shutting down one of these networks would be like >> trying to stop every phone conversation on the planet. >> "This will make censorship impossible," says Ian Clarke, a young >programmer >> in London with grand plans for peer-to-peer technology. For the past 18 >> months, he and a handful of collaborators have spent their spare time >> creating a peer-to-peer alternative to the World Wide Web. They call their >> system FreeNet, and they're getting ready to unleash their prototype in a >> matter of days. >> FreeNet abandons the concept of the Web "site." Anyone would be able to >make >> their computer a node on FreeNet by installing a piece of software. >> Information posted on FreeNet would be automatically replicated and stored >> on multiple member nodes. If someone wanted to search for something -- an >> academic paper, say, or a photograph -- the request would move from one >> computer to the next until it encountered and accessed the desired >> information. The approach would foil tracking efforts and make it nearly >> impossible for someone to remove information from the network. >> Mr. Clarke thinks those capabilities add up to a bold new age for the >> Internet. He envisions FreeNet as a way for political dissidents to >publish >> their views without fear of being found out. Read his fiery manifesto at >> http://freenet.sourceforge.net. But he admits there's a dark side, too. If >> FreeNet works as advertised, it could easily be adapted for unsavory >> purposes, such as distributing child pornography. "This system is, in a >> sense, above the law," he says. >> FreeNet may be new, but the concept of distributed networks has a long >> history. The Internet itself was constructed as a distributed network. >Look >> deep inside the Net and you'll find tiny packets of digital information >> finding their way from one computer to the next, largely without any >central >> control. But then the user-friendly World Wide Web came along and created >a >> new layer on top of the Net, centered around the servers that host Web >> sites. In a sense, FreeNet and Gnutella are a return to the Net's roots. >> THESE FLEDGLING networks are now mutating at warp speed, driven by the >> explosion in online music. A controversial program called Napster was >> designed for college students to trade songs in the popular MP3 file >format. >> But last week Napster buffs branched out into everything from full-length >> feature films to copies of Microsoft Word thanks to Wrapster, an >underground >> program written to turn the music-trading community into an all-purpose >> bazaar. >> Napster, though largely peer-to-peer, relies on a central server to act as >a >> directory. That means someone can pull the plug -- say, a court ruling in >> favor of the music companies now suing Napster. But Gnutella is >practically >> invulnerable because it's diffuse. You have to find one other computer >> running the software, then you're automatically hooked to all of the other >> Gnutella machines that computer knows about. And by installing the program >> on your PC, you turn your own machine into part of the network's library, >> too. >> Strangers can tap into your computer at a furious clip. A few nights ago I >> watched as anonymous Gnutella users scanned my laptop for the computer >game >> Quake, songs by Fleetwood Mac, and a variety of X-rated images. (For the >> record, they found none of the above.) The program lets you decide which >> portions of your hard drive can be searched and which are off-limits, but >> it's disconcerting nonetheless. If you want to give it a try, visit >> http://gnutella.nerdherd.net, one of the growing number of Web sites >> offering Gnutella downloads and information. >> Computer-security expert Avi Rubin warns Net users to be wary. A strange >> file-sharing program might become a hacker's tool for looting your entire >> hard drive. But Mr. Rubin, a researcher at AT&T Labs, is working on >another >> distributed network. Called Publius, after the pseudonym used in the >> Federalist Papers, it's designed to defeat censorship. >> And Gnutella fans like Bryan Mayland, 26, of Tampa, Fla., are already >> developing new versions aimed at supporting thousands, not hundreds, of >> users. "This is unstoppable," Mr. Mayland says. >> --- >> E-mail me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Tom Weber >> The Wall Street Journal. >> 200 Liberty St., New York, N.Y., 10281 >> phone: 212-416-2207; fax: 212-416-2653 >> e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Jim Fleming >> http://www.unir.com/images/architech.gif >> http://www.unir.com/images/address.gif >> http://www.unir.com/images/headers.gif >> http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/domainname/130dftmail/unir.txt >> http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/sdks/platform/tpipv6/start.asp >> > > -- http://www.hungersite.org/cgi-bin/donate.pl Richard Sexton | [EMAIL PROTECTED] | RS79 on eBay and InterNIC http://killifish.vrx.net http://www.mbz.org http://lists.aquaria.net Snail mail: "Maitland House, Bannockburn, Ontario, Canada, K0K 1Y0"
