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Reputation System Fights P2P Junk
yeejiun writes "Many of the files that are shared on p2p networks tend to be junk. Organizations such as the RIAA and music labels regularly pollute these networks with nonsense files masquerading as real music/video files. These junk files make it difficult for users to find what they want on such p2p networks. Some researchers at Cornell University have developed a reputation system called Credence, that works on the Gnutella network, allowing users to tell the good files from the bad ones."
Don't you mean the real illegal files from the fake illegal files? Seriously, it is no surprise to me why P2P has gotten a bad rap. Many of the users simply use P2P apps to commit piracy.
Yes, there are legit uses as well. But honestly, if you are looking for free music from a band that has released it as such, you can usually find it. It's the copyrighted commercial music and video that have tons of fake files, porn movies, etc...Not Jim Blow Sings the Blues, Live from Natrona, PA!
Many hardcore file shares and hosters, dare I say most that would call themselves hardcore, are not in it for getting free content on demand when they want it. They are into collecting absolutely anything and everything they can get their hands on. In some collections, people wouldn't possibly, in their lifetimes,be able to listen to all the music or watch all those movies. But just the thought of having it makes many hoarders happy. And it's not even necessarily reputation amongst others. It could be in many cases, but not always. They just have to have it.
What's my point? Well, this is the greatest strength and weakness of peer to peer. Hoarders ensure a healthy flow of files, but they rarely actually check what they have. They don't check to see the software works, or if the music is a complete copy, or that the movie was cut down to a quarter of the original screen size.
This is what companies take advantage of, both those who want to hurt swapping, and those who just want to seed files for the purpose of installing some evil spyware. It's nice to have a bunch of people trying to seed the masses but cmon the point of file sharing is to pool our independent resources. For someone who doesn't have all day to search for files and test quality and whatnot, it is sometimes less painful to just go buy the CD than it is to actually try to download it amongst the mess of files that are out there.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
Many many companies (and individual artists) have faced SERIOUS economic damage by attempts to thrawt P2P from being absolutely ubiquitous and maximally effective. Estimates are in the BILLIONS of dollars (US only) of lost sales in broadband connections, blank media disks, large hard disk drives, software support, consulting fees, home audio/video equiptment, and the like. And Western countries are fast falling behind as the majority of educated citizens from developing nations take advantage of the black market for these goods and services while Western citizens are blocked in droves by propaganda, political corruption, inferior substitutes, and FUD from fully participating in the open exchange of science, the arts, poltical discorse, and culture in general.
Credence will hopefully bring us a bit closer to reaching our current potential.
This may automate the reviewing process
1. Mark a bunch of good files as good
2. Mark your bogus file as good
3. Spread your vote list on zombie network
4. Your votes corrolate highly with "good files", and there's no counter-votes by others (yet)
5. Trick lots of people to download it (the rating goes to shit eventually, but...)
6. New bogus file. Goto 1.
In addition, you have an issue with semi-good files. What if the encoding is flawed, should you mark it as bad or good? Either case can put you at odds with the general opinion.
Third, you have an issue with files trolling for incorrect votes. Create a "non-obviously" bogus file, which some people will mark bad, others good. You'll create a lot of conflicting votes and "noise" in the system to make attacks like above possible.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
couldnt agree more. P2P is superb stuff, and has all kinds of legit uses, but to pretend that its not 95% used to download copyrighted music and movies and thus save a few bucks is just denial.
There are far too may slashdotters who reply to any article on copyright with "get with the system dude! copyright is over!" usually they seem to be 13 year old kids who dont understand what its like to have your income and career based on developing electronic products.
Do people really think that Lord of the Rings deserved to sell just 1 copy, to the p2p hacker who ripped it?
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Can this also be used as a metric for the RIAA and MPAA to decide which people to take legal action against? Go for the most trusted, most highly rated individuals and take out the most influential (central? critical?) nodes. In the same way that cliques of poisoners would stand out.
Xix.
"Everything is adjustable, provided you have the right tools"
I disagree that these scientists are breaking any *legitimate* law, but if you accept as a premise that they are, then they are in fact breaking the law using taxpayer dollars.
Instead of modding that down it should be modded up so more people can discuss the ramifications.
Do we allow taxpayer dollars to be spent on civil disobedience? On that issue, I am very unsure.
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
The system seems like a tool to use against the RIAA/MPAA to block pollution efforts. However, then the other shoe drops, and the RIAA/MPAA has a tool to target the highest ranked nodes/cliches/people. No longer do they need to figure out how many files you have.
They just have to find one file, extrapolate your rank to the average system rank, run a few numbers (and maybe a few inflated costs in there too), and bam... for sharing Happy Birthday To You.mp3, you get slapped with a $1 million infringement case because you happen to rank as a very high legitimate link.
On the other hand, this might be benefitial to take the heat off of the majority of the file trading community that honestly is NOT costing them any money. They don't need to target the casual "weekend downloader", who's rank should be significantly lower (being a new node on the network) than some guy with 4 160GB HDD's of the latest releases to theater and DVD. Nobody feel sorry when these guys (or gals) get busted. When 14 year old choir girls get busted, there is PR hell to pay. This system allows them to do that.
Didn't RTFA, but that's my first impression. A use to boost network quality, a use to increase (not decrease) the reach of the **AA's, and a use that may help both sides.
"Every tool has at least 2 completely unassociated uses. A spoon can serve food to your mouth, or gouge the eyes out of your enemies." - Me
I8-D
For the past few weeks, I have been rewriting part of the eMule source to have the following changes:
1. I offer a valid file with a valid hash (no fake) 2. People try to download the file from me and move up fast in my queue 3. Once they download a chunk from me, the data I send them is invalid (generated random) 4. Since this part is invalid, they need to redownload it 5. Since they move up faster in my queue than others, they redownload the part from me. 6. etcetera...
To be honest - I want to sell this tactic, that's why I do it. And so far it works! I get loads and loads of requests and rerequests for files, so this is a perfect tactic to kill the download of valid files - reputation system or no reputation system.
Remember, the file is valid, but they'll get it much much slower and spend x times the bandwidth to get it. I have unlimited bandwidth (up/down) so I always win in the end.
If whatever organisation I sell it to employs this on a large scale, the network will be flooded.
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