In search of anonymous file-sharing

LONDON – While media companies step up their legal crackdown on Internet song-swappers, separate teams of software developers – from the Middle East to Madrid – toil away on a foiling technology: an anonymous file-sharing network.

“Our users are requesting more and more privacy. They are more than disgusted with the threat of lawsuits,” said Pablo Soto, chief programmer and co-founder of Madrid-based Optisoft.Optisoft runs Blubster (http://www.blubster.com) and Piolet (http://www.piolet.com), music-only file-sharing networks.They run on Optisoft’s proprietary MP2P peer-to-peer platform.Music trade group the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued 11 of MP2P’s 10 million users for putting their music collection online for others to download.The new upgrade, which goes into effect shortly, should shield MP2P users from future lawsuits, Soto said.”I do not think it will stop the RIAA from suing our users.But if any of our users has the balls to go to court, I don’t see any way on the planet for the RIAA to win,” Soto said.The RIAA, however, recommends taking any claims of anonymity with a grain of salt.”More often than not, these are marketing ploys rather than a genuine technological capability,” an RIAA spokesman said.Relaunching later this month, MP2P will offer users the closest thing yet to anonymously sharing music files with others computer users, he said.Others, including Palestine-based EarthStation 5 (http://www.es5.com) and Filetopia (http://www.filetopia.com), make similar claims.Most technical experts say absolute anonymous file-sharing is difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish.But the young technicians are undaunted.If they can’t completely disguise a user sharing his Outkast tracks with others, they say they can make it exceedingly difficult for outsiders to trace.The stakes are high.Since January, the music trade group RIAA has sued more than 2 000 Americans for copyright infringement for sharing their music collection with others over Internet peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa and WinMX.Hundreds more face legal action in Europe and Canada announcing similar lawsuits.Media companies have employed firms to scour file-sharing networks to find the biggest uploaders.- Nampa-ReutersThey are more than disgusted with the threat of lawsuits,” said Pablo Soto, chief programmer and co-founder of Madrid-based Optisoft.Optisoft runs Blubster (http://www.blubster.com) and Piolet (http://www.piolet.com), music-only file-sharing networks.They run on Optisoft’s proprietary MP2P peer-to-peer platform.Music trade group the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued 11 of MP2P’s 10 million users for putting their music collection online for others to download.The new upgrade, which goes into effect shortly, should shield MP2P users from future lawsuits, Soto said.”I do not think it will stop the RIAA from suing our users.But if any of our users has the balls to go to court, I don’t see any way on the planet for the RIAA to win,” Soto said.The RIAA, however, recommends taking any claims of anonymity with a grain of salt.”More often than not, these are marketing ploys rather than a genuine technological capability,” an RIAA spokesman said.Relaunching later this month, MP2P will offer users the closest thing yet to anonymously sharing music files with others computer users, he said.Others, including Palestine-based EarthStation 5 (http://www.es5.com) and Filetopia (http://www.filetopia.com), make similar claims.Most technical experts say absolute anonymous file-sharing is difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish.But the young technicians are undaunted.If they can’t completely disguise a user sharing his Outkast tracks with others, they say they can make it exceedingly difficult for outsiders to trace.The stakes are high.Since January, the music trade group RIAA has sued more than 2 000 Americans for copyright infringement for sharing their music collection with others over Internet peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa and WinMX.Hundreds more face legal action in Europe and Canada announcing similar lawsuits.Media companies have employed firms to scour file-sharing networks to find the biggest uploaders.- Nampa-Reuters