Typical p2p programs such as those on the gnutella network, kazaa, limewire, and the such use direct connections between two people to share the files. Since you are connecting directly to the other person, it is very easy to tell who they are (as long as they are not using a public access point). The RIAA basically outsources a company to download various popular songs from people, and they then send out a request to the ISP with that IP address and the time they connected to that user. The ISP then will give the RIAA the name of the user using that IP at that moment. I am guessing that right now they are mainly just concerned about the people who are sharing a lot of files. I am sure they will resort to suing anyone they catch in the future..
There are alternate measures that can be taken to ensure that orgs like the RIAA will not be able to tell where the data is coming from. One recent release "WASTE" is an encrypted distributed mesh network used for chat, im, and sharing files. Nullsoft released it , shortly after it was taken down by their parent company AOL. I am sure it is still available all over the place though (it was GPLd at the time). Also, there is another encrypted network called peek-a-booty which distributes bits of content randomly throughout the network, so one file wouldn't even be stored in one location at the same time. This is ideal for sharing information in locations such as China where so much of the internet is restricted. WASTE is probably the best option for P2P while staying anonymous. I am not exactly sure how it works, but it's worth looking into. I'm no expert in this stuff, so I could be totally wrong about all of this. However, this is what I believe is the current situation in filesharing. Hope this helps out. :) Adam -----Original Message----- From: "Kleer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 20:40:40 -0700 To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [sclug-general] file sharing Well what do most Windows people use as a program to download do you think? Kazaa im guessing...When you download the regular version, which many of the thousands do, they get a little present called spyware....Maybe that helps them out? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Daniel Kuecker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 4:34 PM Subject: Re: [sclug-general] file sharing > how do they determine who is downloading? cant the file sharing utils > integrate some sort of PGP or something to encrypt their session and hide > what they are downloading? i guess i dont know enough abpout the p2p > technology to know if that is possible... > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jeromey Hannel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 3:44 PM > Subject: RE: [sclug-general] file sharing > > > > You are right, file sharing is not illegal as long as you are not > > distributing copywrited material. The fact that the mp3 file is diffent > > than the cd track does not mean anything, the issue is the words/music > > in the file. If I own a Metallica cd, I can make all the copies I want > > as long as I do not distribute it. The music still belongs to Metallica > > whether it is cda or mp3 format. > > > > Don't get me wrong, I believe these jack assess in the recoding industry > > need step back because they still make more money than any of us will > > ever see. If those f*cks would lower the prices of cd's I would not > > have to download the music, I could afford to purchase it. > > > > Just my 1/2 cent worth > > > > > > Cheers > > > > Jeromey > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ted Kat. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 3:28 PM > > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Subject: Re: [sclug-general] file sharing > > > > > > File sharing isn't illegal is it? I mean as long as I have permission > > from the man. :) Besides it can be argued that track.mp3 is very > > different from the same track on a cd because of the lossy nature of > > the mp3 algorithm. So in a sense track.mp3 belongs to the person who > > coverted it. You need their permission to download it. :^P > > > > > > > > > > ===== > > Ted Katseres > > > > ::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: > > :::::::::::::::::::: > > ::::::::::::::::::: C , C++, Java or Cobol :::::::::::::::::::: > > ::::::::::::::::::: Linux doesn't care :::::::::::::::::::: > > ::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: > > :::::::::::::::::::: > > > > __________________________________ > > Do you Yahoo!? > > SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! > > http://sbc.yahoo.com > > > > > > >
