James Delahunty
16 Jan 2005 6:41
A few days ago, BayTSP announced FirstSource, an automated system that tracks files on the eDonkey P2P network and BitTorrent trackers and identifies the first uploaders of the files. BayTSP believe that if they track back to the very first uploaders and hand the details over to the entertainment industry they can seriously damage sharing of copyrighted content over P2P networks. Both the eD2K network and BitTorrent use a system known as swarming, which means that users download and upload files in small pieces to help spread them around the network quicker.
"Pirated copies of movies and software typically appear online within hours of release," said Mark Ishikawa, CEO of BayTSP. "Identifying and taking action against the first uploaders can greatly slow the distribution of illegally-obtained intellectual property and might make users think twice before doing it." However, if you had asked the average AfterDawn regular who uses P2P applications, they would have told you months (if not years) ago that going after the first sources of files was the only way to slow down sharing. They would also tell you that BitTorrent is not a P2P network as half the worlds media have mistaken it as.
The important thing that people are forgetting is that P2P networks are still completely legal and can be used for legitimate purposes. BitTorrent has lately been seen as an evil program that allows pirates to share absolutely anything they want with each other with phenomenal speeds, but people forget that it was created for a whole different purpose and is used on many websites to distribute material legally. The entertainment industry is pushing these stories and systems that all claim they will kill P2P sharing of copyrighted content, but they forget to tell you that as technology evolves so will P2P. P2P through mobile phones is a growing possibility for example. Also some new P2P applications are trying alternative methods such as file routing, that mean that the downloader would never know the IP of the uploader and vice versa. This amazing new BayTSP system is nothing new and won't have much effect.
Source:
Music Industry News Network