Software To Stop Song Trading

Shippy writes "Palisade Systems is about to launch new software that can identify and block copyrighted songs as they are being traded online. However, the article fails to mention that it will also stop legal song downloads. The software blocks anything that's copyrighted, whether you already own the song in another format or not. Here's some snippets from the article: 'If installed in a university, for example, it could look inside students' emails, instant messages and peer-to-peer transfers...', and 'Jacobson said the identification process would not work on an encrypted network, such as is used in several newer file-swapping programs. However, the Palisade software could also act to block those applications from using the network altogether.' Great."

Comments

WiFi. The 3rd Internet

[DigiShaman]

I guess it's time to start bridging those WiFi networks around the world. If you can't beat em, fuck em. I start file sharing over WiFi networks. I look forward to the days of local BBSes again. (WiFi BBS?)

Hmm...

[LordK3nn3th]

How does this effect pay-for programs like iTunes?

Also, is this RIAA-only songs being blocked, or other songs? Copyrighted doesn't always mean "undistributable". Someone may hold the copyright to something but may actually let people distribute it-- am I wrong there?

'finger print'

[Mattwolf7]

But how can it determine?

Palisade's version of the technology sits inside a network, rather than inside a file-swapping program. If installed in a university, for example, it could look inside students' emails, instant messages and peer-to-peer transfers, seeking audio "fingerprints" that could be compared with information in Audible Magic's database.

If I send my friend an mp3 of me playing some music how can it tell that from me sending a copyrighted work? Is it reading the 'finger print' and then checking byte by byte? Isn't that going to kill traffic... But couldn't it be beaten by adding one extra byte to the file? Sending in another format?

What is needed..

[bcore]

..is a P2P app that can run over an SSL connection, disguised as web traffic. I'd bet that could beat this thing. Does such a thing exist?

Re:What is needed..

[syousef]

"What's wrong with just plain FTP over SSL? No one's going to be blocking FTP anytime soon..."

I work as an IT consultant in Australia and work on site most of the time. Our clients - banks and insurance companies - certainly do do block FTP and SSL. They usually block anything that isn't HTTP or HTTPS on port 80. This is a genuine frustration for me as I often want to send log files and software to the HQ of the software firm I work for.

To make matters worse one client I worked for had a policy of restricting access to external email and other content (games, porn etc.). They used web filter software which I won't name here for now. Lots of legitmate sites I'd want to get to for genuinely work related purposes were also blocked.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the method adopted by large educational institutions in the end. They won't be able to fight large corporates for very long with the limited funding they do have. It will only take a handful of large law suits to sway them towards censorship.

Its an interesting world we live in now. It seems to have become standard practice somewhere in the late 90s to make product and then intimidate or sue your customers.

This will work for about ten seconds

[Poilobo]

If this is based on fingerprinting technology it would be pretty trivial to cutoff the Type 1 and Type 2 tags, reverse the content and stick'em back on. Reverse the process after downloading. Of course you could always UUencode the song and add a zip extension to it or a multitude of other tricks to hide what your doing.

Never underestimate the power of broke, bored, determined college students.

Re:wouldn't it be simpler

[UID1000000]

This is a good point. Frankly make them sign a contract or a LOI stating that if they do anything illegal that they have to indemify the university of any illegal actions and take full recourse for the aforementioned.

But if 90% of their traffic is P2P why not make it all internal traffic thus eliminating bandwidth costs? If there is a way to do this for instance block the ports that P2P programs use, hell block all the ports except 80 and then setup a VPN client with all ports open but restrict traffic to being only internal. Then the bandwidth load is reduced by 90% and the traffic (which would probably cut down) might come down by as much as 60-70%.

If new items need to be introduced to the P2P networks on the campus then the students should have to go out and use their own, their parents or some cafes' then they can bring it back into the closed school network.

What do you think of that?

I used to work for Palisade...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was working for Palisade when they developed the first version of PacketHound.

Actually, I should say when they stole PacketHound, since it was actually created by a coworker in his off hours, outside of Palisade. The CEO at the time fired this guy and sued the developer to gain the rights to PacketHound. Kind of ironic that they stole something that is supposed to prevent stealing!

Like Palisade's original product, called ScreenDoor, PacketHound is just a packet sniffer that sends out TCP RST packets to disrupt connections. Palisade (and Iowa State University) actually have a patent on this, even though there have been firewalls and other programs (like Snort) which do the same thing, and predate the patent.

Palisade itself is a tiny company that is milking this one patent/idea for most of its products. But they are somehow good at getting press...

Steganography

[markan18]

maybe we just need to rename songs as .doc or .jpg. If that crap can still catch them, cram the song into real images or insert them into real office documents.

One may insert them into icmp packets (ping still allowed??). What if i encrypt all my email, will encryption be outlawed? The war on file sharing is turning into a war on drugs, we all know how effective it is.

I think anyone can still get packets and or out a given network can download and upload songs or anything. those big 5 labels are causing real damage trying to police the internet and deserves to die real fast

Or SSH

[Sycraft-fu]

I would LOVE to see a university try to block that. A small private one might (and I emphize might) be able to get away with it but a big one? Forget about it.

Hell, our university REQUIRES SSH for many things. You can't telnet to the e-mail cluster any more, it's SSH only. Likewise the webmail is SSL only. You just don't have a choice, you'll use the encryption or you'll not use the system. My department is working on going to that. Going to be no telnet, no FTP, no unencrypted IMAP or pop. Everything will be SSH, SFTP (which is also SSH), or SSL. Unencrypted communications will be in-building only, or for things like the main website. You want to access any systems, you'll do it with an encrypted protocol, or use an encrypted VPN tunnel to get a local address.

So either SSL or SSH would work well. They are just too useful and used for too many things. Try and shut that down and you'll find backlash like you can't believe.

Re:And, thusly...

[Nadsat]

Yes, McCrapDeluze: what you describe is the blowback, the reaction against the controllers.

Technology tries to liberate. Technology was once thought of as the essence of freedom's revolution itself. Recall Apple/1984... recall www-idealism. Then technology turns against itself and tries to control. Porn regulation, satillite cameras, fingerprints, RIAA server-side 'intellectual property' monitoring. Liberation vs. control. Hacktivists and regulators engaging in battle royal.

Sure there are always loopholes and entropy... but I fear the capability of technology to regulate and control will become so strong and so automated that only the most astute hacktivists or fleeting script kiddies will find sanctuary, leaving the rest of the populace to graze like sheep on genetic grass.