XP SP2 Torrent Shows Legal P2P's Promise

Downhill Battle writes "With Congress debating new legislation that would ban p2p networks (along with other innovations and beloved products), we thought it was important to demonstrate the huge potential of p2p software to benefit the public. So now at SP2torrent.com you can get Windows XP SP2 via BitTorrent." Update: 08/09 21:10 GMT by S : As commenters note, you can also get XP SP2 from Microsoft's site, but it's explained: "DO NOT CLICK DOWNLOAD IF YOU ARE UPDATING JUST ONE COMPUTER: A smaller, more appropriate download will be available soon on Windows Update."

Comments

This would be exciting..

[NanoGator]

... if it wasn't for the fact that MS's hosting services have totally blown away every connection I've thrown at it. I've seriously gotten 500KB/s from them before. (Bytes, not bits.)

A Good First Step

[wackysootroom]

That's great and all, but lawmakers won't listen until MS or is using Bittorrent themselves to distribute updates.

My prediction is that MS will do the "embrace and extend" thing with bittorrent once they catch on to it.

hyperbole

[stratjakt]

While I don't agree with the INDUCE act, it doesn't ban all "P2P", it bans the setup of networks explicitly for exchanging pirated materials.. Ie; Kazaa, eDonkey.. Don't make yourself look like fools defending them, yeah there's some token 0.0001% of content that's legal on them.. Everyone knows that they're for downloading MP3s and DivX's and warez.

I don't see any law that threatens to make it illegal to send content from one node on the network (or peer) to another node - hence, peer to peer. I've never seen bittorrent threatened when used to distribute legal content, though sites like suprnova are walking a fine line by encouraging it as a means for piracy.

Complain, get active.. That's great. But dont exagerate or you wind up making a fool of yourself. If you want to write your congressperson or senator, do so with lucid well-thought arguments, not a bunch of "slippery slope" and hysterical dystopian visions of the future.. That, at most, gets chuckled at before crumpled and pitched into the can.

What's missing is authentication

[TommydCat]

P2P networks really need to figure a way for an author to cyptographically sign a file as "authentic", like you can sign email with a PGP signature. This would be another step in giving P2P nets "legitimacy".

Currently there are all sorts of miscreants out there doing unspeakable acts to poor defenseless setup.exe files which will burn the end-user and turn them off to P2P.

If there existed a secure, integrated/easy way to verify that this XPSP2 fileset came from Microsoft without tampering (publishing MD5 sums is the antithesis to easy to normal users), I would click on the .torrent or whatever without hesitation.

The authentication would rely on the Public Key Infrastructure and have chains of trust that would go back to the CA's, just like we do with SSL certs.

I like "quotes"

I just downloaded SP2 from MS...

[DerProfi]

..and got sustained rates of over 250KB/sec. My P2P Bitborrent download (started at the same time) is still going and chugging along at a whopping 20KB/sec. I think I'll stick with Microsoft's servers.

Re:Unless MS Officially Seeded the Torrent...

[stratjakt]

Infinitely useful? Marginally practical is a better term, I think.

MS has more bandwidth than jesus, and you'll download the patch much faster from them than from some torrent.

I've yet to see any torrent download max out my downstream on this T1 at work. They have no problem maxing out my upstream of course - I wind up sending at 150 and recieving at 20 or so. I've tried big torrents too, new linux releases, spiderman and matrix trailers, etc..

Which makes me wonder how well the bittorrent thing would/will be recieved by the general public. Why should our upstream bandwidth - which we pay for - be used to redistribute MSFT's shit? I don't see them mirroring our ftp distro site. I don't see them telling the Comcast rep to reactivate my account after it was suspended for bandwidth abuse. Fuck that, they already gouged me for 200 bucks for XP Pro, they can damn well foot the bandwidth bill for any patch I need to keep it working.

I mean, would you let (random big corporation) Johnson and Johnson store products in your living room, and deliver them using your car and your gas? Even if you got a 15% discount on shampoo?

Help by not helping

[cpt kangarooski]

Well, this is certainly a contender for the stupidest thing this week, but it's still early yet.

17 USC 106 tells us that the copyright holder has the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute their works.

Downloading is reproduction. See MAI Systems v. Peak Computer, 991 F.2d 511 (9th Cir. 1993), Intellectual Reserve v. Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 75 F. Supp. 2d 1290 (D. Utah 1999), and A&M Records v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001).

Uploading is distribution. See A&M Records v. Napster, 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001).

Does it matter that MS is letting people download this from MS for free? No. They, and they alone have the right to decide whether, by whom, when, where, and how, their works will be distributed or reproduced.

Does fair use apply? Almost certainly not. Three of the four factors are against it, and the fourth is basically a wash.

Does any other exemption in copyright law apply? No.

So basically this is a perfect example of P2P nets being used to break the law. And it also shows that many users (and many /.ers around here) wouldn't know what is and isn't legal if it bit them in the face.