December 20, 2004
Volume 7, Issue 4
P2P PATROL Program to Protect Children
P2P PATROL (Peer-to-Peer Parents And Teens React On Line), which was founded in June, launched its third program last Monday to help protect children online with the introduction of its consumer website at http://www.p2ppatrol.com.
Through this website, peer-to-peer (P2P) software program distributors and related participating companies will provide information to P2P users to help stop distribution of child pornography on the Internet.
P2Ppatrol.com will serve as a resource center to answer basic questions for consumers, including how to minimize the risk of exposure to criminally obscene content. Its specific focus is on helping users who inadvertently encounter child pornography online to be able to recognize, remove and report it.
The "Future of Netcrime Now" report released December 8th by the Press Association Limited cited this issue as the greatest threat facing the Internet today, ranking seven different child pornography concerns in the ten most serious netcrime threats, and it is now more important than ever to help combat it.
P2Ppatrol.com provides easy-to-follow instructions for determining whether such material is illegal or merely objectionable, for permanently deleting it, and for reporting the content to law enforcement authorities.
Intolerance of the global scourge of child pornography is morally commendable for voluntarily participating P2P PATROL companies, and tools such as those that this initiative provides are what they need to support that position practically.
The DCIA is working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and state police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force units on P2P PATROL.
The DCIA is also working with the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (asacp.org) on technical coordination and backend fulfillment for P2Ppatrol.com.
P2P PATROL will host its next quarterly working session for qualified private sector and law enforcement representatives in Dallas, TX on February 1st. For more information and to learn how you can get involved in P2P PATROL, please contact sari@dcia.info or call 888-864-DCIA.
MPAA Serves Notice
By Ben Fritz in Variety
The MPAAMPAA revealed plans Tuesday to crack down on servers around the world that help make movie piracy possible – while taking pains to project a pro-technology image.
As expected, CEO Dan Glickman announced at a Washington, DC news conference that the MPAA is working with authorities to take civil and criminal action against those who operate the indexing servers that help users find pirated pics on eDonkey, BitTorrent, and DirectConnect.
Specifically, MPAA member studios are filing more than 100 civil suits against the operators of BitTorrent servers in the US and UK and working with law enforcement authorities in Finland, France, and the Netherlands to pursue criminal charges against operators of similar servers for eDonkey and DirectConnect.
The P2P industry reacted with calls for Hollywood to work directly with [software providers] to create legitimate business models.
"The MPAA's action today against server operators is regrettable because it only exacerbates the divisiveness between the entertainment and technology sectors and fails to move the parties toward a long-term solution," commented DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty.
But in an effort to mend relations with the tech industry at the same time it expanded legal actions many techies have opposed, MPAA brought out execs from tech companies not involved in the crackdowns to show off legal uses of P2P.
Travis Kalanick, CEO of Red Swoosh, talked about his firm's work with studios distributing promotional content via P2P technology. Kalanick, who was previously a Hollywood enemy when he founded P2P network Scour, went out of his way to declare, "I have my own opinions about litigation, but I'm not here to discuss lawsuits."
BayTSP CEO Mark Ishikawa, whose firm tracks online piracy but hasn't worked for the MPAA, noted his company tracks 3-5 million infringements of intellectual property online each day and has seen as many as 6,000 copies of a pirated movie appear online the weekend after it opens.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 Everyone interested in commercial development of the distributed computing industry owes a major debt of gratitude to the Federal Trade Commission for mounting its very valuable two-day public workshop last week focused on peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing.
In particular, thanks to Chairman Deborah Majoras for setting high standards from the outset for an open-and-honest exchange of perspectives, and to Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour for her leadership in developing a well-conceived agenda and personally attending the entire conference.
The views expressed by panelists covered a spectrum of opinion, reflecting the highly kinetic and early stage of development of this exciting new medium for communicating information, processing data, and disseminating content.
In fact, it was possible to hear nearly any position one might hold regarding P2P expressed at some point during this event, and the challenge to us will be to pour through all of the data and separate constructively actionable facts from unusable misinformation.
To illustrate this polarity, by simply editing out passages from an article written by Chloe Albanesius, who covered day one of the workshop for Technology Daily, here are two opposing versions of what went on. Her actual published article follows this report. We will discuss day two of the workshop in next week's DCINFO.
VERSION 1: (Anti-P2P) "Online warnings about the illegal aspects of file-sharing software could send mixed messages to people. The RIAA is skeptical because the P2P community has suggested such warnings without implementing them. An 'overriding concern' is that posting warnings on P2P sites could be potentially confusing to consumers who may not understand if using a site is legal or not. A software architect said that a study he conducted found that many P2P users were unaware that services accessed their personal information. The situation on P2P networks has not improved in the area of access to child pornography."
VERSION 2: (Pro-P2P) "Online warnings would be a good step. The file-sharing community is willing to put prominent warnings on access points. The warnings could explain the issue on the main page or have links. It's a young industry with good actors. Give it time and encouragement. 'We applaud any efforts to provide consumers' with new information,' the RIAA said. A software architect found that Kazaa is 'much improved'. 'A lot of issues we found earlier have all been corrected.' He also praised eDonkey for its efforts to clarify what files are being shared. Republican Reps. have asked GAO to issue an updated report."
The period for those wishing to file additional public comments, either in response to or in addition to the presentations by panelists is open until January 18th, and I personally encourage you to do so.
One of the issues raised several times during the workshop was the need for affected parties to use language more precisely. Using the terms "service" and "network" to describe how files are shared, for example, is not as precise as "program" or "application." The former ascribes an ongoing relationship with consumers as well as a direct involvement with their usage activities, which P2P companies do not have. What P2P companies provide is a decentralized search engine and file-transmission program, which enables users to independently query other users for content discovery and delivery of selected files, and simultaneously distribute content to other users in the same way.
Another example is the term "file sharing" itself, which is imprecise. It would be more accurate to describe this activity as file "replication and distribution" or simply "redistribution." The process includes placing a file into a published directory (or in the jargon, a "shared folder"), replicating the data in that file, or if swarming software is used, a portion of it, in response to a delivery request, uploading it to the Internet for transmission to a different user of the P2P application who has made that request, who then downloads that data, where it is reconstituted into a digital replica of the initial file.
A term that was bandied about a great deal by panelists, as well as by Senator Smith in his opening remarks, was "filtering." This word very much needs clarifying, if not outright banning for the confusion it sews, especially in the context of copyrighted works.
Opponents of the industry use the term "filtering" as synonymous with "blocking" or preventing redistribution. An example of this is now deployed on certain closed local area networks (LANs) at college campuses and companies – totally separate from the P2P applications whose performance it degrades. To accomplish the equivalent on a public network, one would need to place a file-blocker at every point-of-presence (POP) of each Internet service provider (ISP).
Opponents also include destructive interdiction within their definition of "filtering." This is typically accomplished by agents hired by content rights-holders to inject corrupted files, disguised as copyrighted works, into redistribution intending to further degrade performance. This is sometimes called "spoofing," but can more accurately be called "polluting."
Industry proponents, needless to say, do not favor either "blocking" or "polluting" as constructive means to commercially develop the P2P distribution channel.
An entirely different type of "filtering" that the industry has accepted is incorporated in family filters, which are now provided as a feature in leading P2P software programs. These are not file-blockers, but rather keyword filters that can be preset at various levels and password-protected by parents to protect their children from exposure to inappropriate content. They work by not allowing searches that use certain words in file names or metadata. Parents can add additional words to those proscribed initially by the software providers.
Instead of the injection of corrupted files, industry proponents would welcome the introduction of well-produced cross-promotions that direct searchers for given entertainment files to authorized sources, perhaps including trailers or previews in their executions.
Finally, the P2P Revenue Engine (P2PRE) project provides remote identification of files for application of rights-holder stipulated rules, which is also known as "digital rights management (DRM)," for authorized redistribution of advertising-supported, paid subscription, and a la carte versions of entertainment content.
This is certainly neither "blocking" nor "polluting," and very importantly is also separate from the P2P applications whose performance it enhances; and exemplifies a business model that would advance commercial development of the industry.
Whether intentionally to mislead or voiced out of frustration with a lack of progress by major entertainment companies and P2P software providers to adopt business models for authorized redistribution of pop-culture material, industry observers should not confuse keyword family filters with "filtering" to prevent copyrighted material from being disseminated by means of blocking or polluting.
Music Industry Lukewarm to Ideas
By Chloe Albanesius in Technology Daily
While online warnings about the illegal aspects of file-sharing software would be a good step toward targeting intellectual property piracy, they could send mixed messages to people using such peer-to-peer services, a recording industry representative said Wednesday.
The file-sharing community is willing to put prominent warnings on the main access points of P2P networks so users know their actions could face legal scrutiny, Marty Lafferty, CEO of the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), said at a P2P workshop sponsored by the FTC. The warnings could explain the issue entirely on the main page or have links that say "Click here for more information," Lafferty said.
"It's a young industry with good actors," Lafferty said. "Give it time and encouragement" so it can develop "trust and verification."
"We applaud any efforts to provide consumers" with new information, Stanley Pierre-Louis, senior vice president for litigation at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), said in response to the idea. But RIAA is skeptical of the promise because it is the third time the P2P community has suggested such warnings without implementing them, he said.
He added that an "overriding concern" is that posting warnings on P2P sites could be sending "mixed messages" by potentially confusing consumers who may not understand if using a site is legal or not.
When asked by a lobbyist for Sharman Networks if RIAA would consider legislation to create a "safe harbor" from litigation for networks that try to curtail illegal sharing of copyrighted digital files, Pierre-Louis urged Sharman, which runs the Kazaa P2P network, to present specific language. He said it is "abstract to talk about what solution might work versus another."
Aaron Krekelberg, a software architect for the University of Minnesota, said that a study he conducted several years ago with Nathaniel Good of the University of California at Berkeley found that many P2P users were unaware that services accessed their personal information. A P2P "interface needs to make it clearer to users what they're sharing," Krekelberg said.
Krekelberg and Good found that Kazaa is "much improved" since the publication of their study. "A lot of the issues we found earlier, where Kazaa would automatically add information to share, have all been corrected," Good said.
He also praised eDonkey for its efforts to clarify what files are being shared with other users.
The situation on P2P networks has not improved as steadily in the area of access to child pornography, said Linda Koontz, director of information management issues at the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
A 2002 GAO study found readily accessible files on the networks were child porn. Koontz said that Republican Reps. Charles (Chip) Pickering of Mississippi, Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania, and John Shadegg of Arizona have asked GAO to issue an updated report, and Koontz said the agency will begin its research for that project in January.
FTC Workshop Puts P2P Debate at Forefront
By Ian Martinez in Washington Internet Daily
"The amount of illegality" on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks "is enormous and staggering," said Stanley Pierre-Louis, RIAA senior vp-litigation, firing one of many shots in a contentious first morning of the FTC's public workshop on P2P file-sharing technology Wednesday. The RIAA doesn't "take lightly the filing of lawsuits" but feels compelled to do so because of the sheer volume of copyright infringement, he said.
Joining the choir critical of P2P network enablers was Sen. Smith (R-OR). "Especially disturbing to me is the amount of pornographic material that is not only traded over the P2P networks, but disseminated through intentionally misnamed files," Smith said. A member of the Senate Commerce Committee, Smith said P2P networks make pornography too readily available to children precisely because of their laissez-faire attitude towards overseeing the files that users share. Smith added, "I am not at all convinced that the networks' disclosure program goes far enough" to notify users of privacy risks posed by adware and spyware or the copyright violations they may be committing.
The new disclosure program created by the P2P networks was illustrated by Marty Lafferty, CEO of Distributed Computing Industry Assn. (DCIA), which lobbies on behalf of P2P-related companies. Featured in highly visible spots on the sites of P2P companies like Kazaa and BitTorrent, as well as every time their software opened, the new disclosures would indicate what ad software comes with the program, and what kinds of files violate copyright. Lafferty was adamant that P2P networks not be villainized for the actions of its users. He urged private solutions to the problem of copyright infringement. "Let the industry handle it," with only limited legislation, he said, as they have with spam and phishing.
The adware/spyware problem led to some of the more contentious moments at the workshop. Adam Toll, COO of Big Champagne – a ratings and consulting company that hasn't been afraid to criticize both the P2P companies and the RIAA – said adware, spyware, and pornography on P2P networks are exactly the same, in proportion and degree, as on the rest of the Internet. Several industry figures and reporters exchanged heated words from the audience about what causes those problems in the first place. Some blasted Microsoft for flaws in its Window operating system and one rhetorically asked whether there would soon be a workshop on Windows.
A few speakers for software and security companies seemed confident that a compromise between innovative P2P technologies and copyright protection – which most 3rd-party panelists acknowledged was the principle concern for US industry – is just around the corner. Audible Magic CEO Vance Ikezoye highlighted a new "digital fingerprinting" technique developed by his firm, saying "private file filtering is the answer." Others enthusiastically supported digital fingerprinting of copyrighted music, a process in which a song's wave patterns are traced by software that then produces a code number for that song. "Fingerprint-like screening is becoming available for the web, is currently available for e-mail," said Bob Kessinger, operations dir., SurfControl. Ikezoye said P2P companies and the RIAA and other copyright holders should be making each other's jobs easier. "The low hanging fruit" of obviously copyrighted music "is easy to screen for."
Coming Events of Interest
- Digital Hollywood at CES 2005 - Digital Hollywood will present a full program at the Consumer Electronics Show in the Las Vegas Convention Center North Hall, January 6th-8th.
The DCIA is proud to moderate "Next Generation P2P Music and Film - DRM, Paid for Pass-Along, and Other Distributed Computing Models and the Entertainment Industries" featuring Adrian Sexton, Executive Director, Business Development, Lions Gate Entertainment; Richard Conlon, VP Licensing, BMI; Derek Broes, Windows Client Strategic Relations & Policy, Microsoft; Marc Morgenstern, Vice President, Overpeer; Mark Ishikawa, Chief Executive and Technology Officer, BayTSP; Michael Weiss, President & CEO, StreamCast Networks, and Gerd Leonhard, CEO, ThinkAndLink.biz and Senior Advisor, Media Rights Technologies.
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P2P PATROL - Parents And Teens React On Line - The industry's anti-child-pornography initiative will hold its quarterly working session with private sector and law enforcement representatives in Dallas, TX on February 1st. For more information and to learn how you can contribute to P2P PATROL, please contact sari@dcia.info or call 888-864-DCIA.
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The DCIA will hold its Winter General Meeting the evening of February 9th in conjunction with MSNY. Please contact Member Services leader Karen Kaplowitz at 888-890-4240 or karen@dcia.info for more information.
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