Jari Ketola
10 May 2004 0:27
A professor and a graduate student from th University of Tulsa have been awarded a patent for a method for spoofing peer-to-peer networks. The software shares tons of bogus files on P2P networks, which look like pirated content, but are actually just noise.
"It's built off the basic idea of injecting alternative content or decoy media into peer-to-peer networks as a way of hiding pirated media that's being shared illegally," said professor John Hale -- one of the people behind the idea. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
The software will obviously spoof only songs of selected artists and titles, so those artists who actually want to distribute their content over a P2P network, can do so.
Companies such as Overpeer and MediaDefender have already products on the market that flood P2P networks.
While their intentions are clearly good, the companies should bear in mind that intentional hampering of digital communications can be, and often is, illegal.
Source: Wired