Kazaa and Grokster Are So 2002

Between spyware, pop-up ads, mislabeledfiles, spoofed files, and now the threats of doom from the RIAA, people are looking to alternatives to the main file sharing systems:

I think there is going to be a natural recession where people will find other, more secure networks where they feel more comfortable, and there are lots that are ready and willing to take them in.”

One new P2P network, called “WASTE,” allows users to stake out small private networks to trade files and instant messages among trusted groups of friends. The system keeps unauthorized Internet users out of the system with encryption and authentication technology. It was created in the heart of the nation’s largest Internet service provider, America Online, by programmer Justin Frankel — best known as the author of the Gntuella software that later formed the core of several popular file-sharing services.

….Another popular tool is “Peer Guardian,” which lets users block Internet addresses that music companies and other copyright owners often use to troll P2P networks for illegal downloading.

File traders are looking at ways not just to make their activity harder to detect, but also to make it easier to do.

One of the most interesting is “swarming technology,” which addresses the reality that downloading high-quality digital copies of feature films can take several hours to accomplish, even for people with high-speed broadband Internet access.

Swarming allows users to chop up big files into manageable chunks that are stored on numerous systems throughout the P2P provider’s network. When a user requests a file, it gets routed in pieces through multiple systems, downloading it to the computer much more quickly. The technology also makes it more difficult to track the source and destination of the file. [Washington Post]