Jari Ketola
9 Mar 2004 0:23
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been exploring ways of limiting illegal P2P traffic, and has discovered a company called Audible Magic. Audible Magic has developed a software, that analyzes the content being transferred and is capable of blocking the transfer, if illegal content is detected.
According to Audible Magic the software works either on external network devices that monitor traffic, or it can be embedded in any P2P software.
P2P companies have always argued that illegal content cannot be blocked without blocking legal material, too, and invading their users' privacy. RIAA is not looking for a legal ruling to force P2P companies to adopt Audible Magic's (or similar) technology, but would like to see the technology added voluntarily.
Of course it is quite obvious that P2P companies are not willing to add any such component. First of all it would seriously hamper their position on the P2P market, and the lisence fees for the software would probably be a problem as well. RIAA is most likely just looking for another excuse to claim that P2P companies are not doing their best in blocking out illegal traffic from their networks.
Source: New York Times