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Broadband Service as P2P Distro Experiment

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the you-learn-something-new-everyday dept.

Not another doctor wrote to mention a PC Doctor article about the Sky by Broadband service. In addition to providing access to the internet, the service also helpfully downloads and installs the Kontiki P2P service. From the article: "What this really means is that Sky in all their advertising are making out that you are downloading content directly from them rather than other users. Also, the P2P link continues to run in the background after you've shut down the main application, eating up bandwidth by allowing others to download the files from your PC. Kontiki also collects and sends back to Sky a lot of information about your PC. There is no mention as to how this data is protected from unauthorized access, however, initial examination with Ethereal seems to show that all data is at least encrypted during transmission."

3 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. If it's too good to be true... by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 0, Troll

    So you've decided to illegally download movies...

    If you play with fire, you're bound to get burnt. Whether it's Sky's Kontiki client or some other P2P app, you're always running the risk of sucking up bandwidth with background services. And so what if you are? The maximum throughput is only slightly decreased and you get a bunch of extra features. Isn't that worth the tradeoff? Did you really think you could get something for nothing?

    1. Re:If it's too good to be true... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Shouldn't matter, because "no copy-protection scheme is foolproof"* and "information wants to be free,"** not to mention "the internet changes everything"*** and "economics as we know it is obsolete."**** Did I get that right, you foul-smelling hippie Slashtard?

      * Hint: Adequate doesn't imply foolproof.
      ** No, it doesn't.
      *** No, it didn't.
      **** You're fucking retarded--you and your ilk--and you'll find your Stallmanesque, Dorito-studded beard isn't quite as attractive to ladies in real life as you'd think to judge by the babe parade on your flickering CRT, once you finally get around to sponging that crusty exoskeleton of what used to be semen off your flesh and leaving your basement shrine to Napoleon Dynamite, which you probably misspell as "Napolean." Any day now.

    2. Re:If it's too good to be true... by PitaBred · · Score: 0, Troll

      ***** Just because you say it, doesn't make it true.

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.