I think I've mentioned this a long time ago but I didn't really hear many responses.
What about a system where you sign in and the server assigns you a buddy. You submit a search which goes to your buddy who then executes the search and sends you the results. If you download something it actually goes through your buddy first and then to you. If your buddy gets a search request, he actually queries your files and sends a response. If you don't get a response from a budyy in a reasonable amount of time, you send a message out requesting a new buddy.
I know it would be less efficient but wouldn't it make it much more difficult to trace an individual user?
Why don't some of the filesharing programs allow (by default) clients to "buddy" up with another client in their geographical region.
User A and B are buddies from the same area and as such, A maintains a database of files on B and B returns the favor. When A gets a search request, it responds on B's behalf and if the searcher requests the file, then A requests it from B and then sends packets as they are received to the user that requested the file. If this is all done by the software then users remain anonymous without any extra work. If the users actually are close together, then I believe the amount of traffic would not increase greatly. What do you think?
Slashdot Mirror
I think I've mentioned this a long time ago but I didn't really hear many responses.
What about a system where you sign in and the server assigns you a buddy. You submit a search which goes to your buddy who then executes the search and sends you the results. If you download something it actually goes through your buddy first and then to you. If your buddy gets a search request, he actually queries your files and sends a response. If you don't get a response from a budyy in a reasonable amount of time, you send a message out requesting a new buddy.
I know it would be less efficient but wouldn't it make it much more difficult to trace an individual user?
Darcy
User A and B are buddies from the same area and as such, A maintains a database of files on B and B returns the favor. When A gets a search request, it responds on B's behalf and if the searcher requests the file, then A requests it from B and then sends packets as they are received to the user that requested the file. If this is all done by the software then users remain anonymous without any extra work. If the users actually are close together, then I believe the amount of traffic would not increase greatly. What do you think?