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Overpeer spreads fake files through P2P networks

6 July 2002 14:34 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 6 comments

Company called Overpeer is "poisoning" various P2P networks with fake files. Company shares tons of files with attractive filenames, but files -- currently only MP3 files -- contain just garbage or 5sec loops of the track mentioned in the filename.

Overpeer does this on behalf of various content owners, most notably with world's largest record label, French Vivendi Universal. Problem isn't that big yet, but as many, many P2P users tend to download tracks and share them immediately without checking their accuracy, the problem can easily escalate.

Most likely this will lead P2P developers to figure out ways to "moderate" files, invent hashing systems to their software, etc. But obviously it will annoy users who have spent 20mins with their 56k to download a track and find out that the track they wanted to download is actually 100% useless.

Source: Zeropaid.com

Permalink to this article

Loudeye Corp. dumps Overpeer (10 December 2005)

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loaded (Moderator) 6 July 2002 15:07
B***ards! I have been using Kazaa for a while and many attractive film titles are just garbage, I just thought the users where playing practical jokes, but quick tip: If it is a movie,or audio, you can preview it in Kazza and see if it is what you want. You have to wait a little while, but it is worth it so you don't waste your time. P. [ + quote]
A_Klingon (Moderator) 6 July 2002 17:17
This thing'll never fly. Always try to check the filesize(s) of anything you are interested in, that's a start. The Internet Community is much, much smarter than this. A desperate ploy by a desperate conglomerate. -- K.A. -- (P.S. Is this the best they can come up with?) [ + quote]
dRD (I hate titles) 7 July 2002 0:22
What I'm surprised of is the fact that it took three �ears for them to figure this method out, even that I and I guess everyone who ever actually thought this issue, had figured out already back in 1999. What this will, most likely, create, is better P2P tools that use hashing and auditing methods, which will make sure that the tracks are accurate -- which would also bring down the number of porn clips named as "Lord of the rings: Two towers" :-) Petteri Pyyny Webmaster http://AfterDawn.com/ [ + quote]
loaded (Moderator) 7 July 2002 7:47
Absolutely, even when downloading 'normal' files, you have to dredge through lots of crud, I would say less than 50% of the files I end up clicking on and selecting end up being what I wanted.....How would they improve the auditing methods? P. [ + quote]
rootboy (Inactive) 7 July 2002 8:52
The problem I see with improved hashing and auditing is that there will be increased liability. One of Napster's main defenses was that they didn't know what was being traded. [ + quote]
KazzaKing (Inactive) 26 November 2002 2:13
There Are More And More Wnks Faking There Files But Theres A New Weapon With Kazza = KPE (kazza preview extractor) After Minutes It Allows You To Run All Files Such As The Dreaded .avi And Even Initiates The First Stages Of Setups For Games. This Is The Link Or Type KPE Into Downloads.com http://download.com.com/3000-2381-10152281.html?tag=lst-0-1 [ + quote]