Anonymous file-swapping programmer arrested

NewScientist.com news service ^ | 16:12 11 May 04 | Will Knight

[vannrox]

A professor at Tokyo University in Japan has been arrested and charged with copyright offences after developing a computer program that promises to let users share files with anonymity.

Isamu Kaneko, a 33-year-old academic, wrote a file-sharing program called "Winny". This promises users the ability to share audio and video files through a network built on top of ordinary internet traffic, but without revealing network address of their computer to other users. Kaneko was arrested on suspicion of offering copyrighted material for download through the program himself.

In Japan, violating copyright law can be punished with a maximum sentence of three years in prison or a fine of up to 3 million yen ($27,000). A survey carried out by the Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software suggests that Winny is used by around 250,000 people in Japan.

Outside of Japan, the best-known anonymous file-trading program is FreeNet. This program uses encryption and clever routing to prevent an outsider from determining who has requested a particular file or where it is stored but it requires some technical expertise to use. Winny is easier to operate and borrows some of the techniques implemented in FreeNet.

Preserving anonymity

But it is unclear how good the Winny network is at preserving anonymity. In November 2003 two users were arrested for allegedly offering copyright movies and computer games using the program. Japanese police have not revealed how these users were traced.

Across the world, internet file-sharing has become a major headache for entertainment companies. In the US and Europe programs such as Kazaa and Morpheus are used by millions of people to share digital copies of copyrighted music, films and software files without permission.

But these popular programs do not protect the identity of their users, meaning an outside can find a user's (IP) internet protocol address and trace them through their internet service provider.

Legal attack

In the US, the Recording Industry Association of America, a lobby group representing the world's largest record labels, has exploited this fact to track down individual music traders and sue them for allegedly copyright infringement.

Julian Midgley, of the UK think-tank Campaign for Digital Rights, says anonymous file-trading will probably increase as traders face growing legal pressure. "If people provide simple tools it would seem to be the obvious thing to happen," he told New Scientist.

But he notes that in some countries it easier for investigators to demand that internet service providers hand over information that could be used to trace users trying to mask their activities.

[vannrox]

Good thing that we live here...in the good ol' USA.
The land of the Free.
That would never happen here!

[68skylark]

I may change my P2P file sharing software soon. Can anyone recommend what works best?

(I've used morpheus in the past to sample music before I decide to buy. Last week I sampled a few songs from Evanescence before buying their disc. Before that I did the same for a guitar player named Chris Smither.)

[El Gran Salseron]

Based upon this article I would recommend Freenet or Winny. :-)

[Mitchell]

a guitar player named Chris Smither

That really brings me back to 1975 or so. I had the privilege of hearing Chris Smither in concert a couple of times then. He was outstanding.

I liked the album "Don't It Drag On," if I remember the name right. I haven't heard it for years.

[tomakaze]

i'd kill for an mp3 rip of Deadbolt: Tijuana Hitsquad.
I own the cd, I just don't have handy access to it right now. none of the legit music dload sites carry the stuff i like (none I've been able to find anyway) so for now, I'm pretty much relying on kazaa & usenet for tunes.

[upchuck]

I've had pretty good luck with WinMX (winmx.com).

[tomakaze]

copyright has gotten beyond ridiculous.
the entertainment industry's basicly trying to make *everything* pay per view. screw them.
that said I own legit media copies of pretty much everything I have ratholed away.

[boris]

In my experience Freenet is usually broken.

[A CA Guy]

Is assisting in a theft legal in the USA now?
If he was assisting in that, time in prison is a good thing.

If he wasn't doing anything and this was a rumor, he should be released.

[struwwelpeter]

Hollywood seems to ignore the real copyrite thieves.

Here in Kyiv, they openly sell music CDs, computer software, and MP3 discs on the street, for usually about 6-7 griven ($1.30) each. Eleven or twelve full albums, with cover artwork and lyrics on one CD for just over a buck.

VCD & DVD movies go for a bit more: 22-25 griven ($4-5). Some even have cool holographic stickers that say "Licensed". The "unlicensed" ones usually have two movies on the same disk. Vozvrashchenie Korolya (Return of the King) has been out for months on DVD here, and Pristrastiya Khrista (Passion of Christ) is now on the market.

I just bought Zolotoy Soft (Golden Software) disk 4 with Windows ME, Office XP SP2 Professional, Partition Magic 8.0, Virtual CD 4.03, Nero Burning ROM v 5.5, and lots of other software for six griven ($1.20). Will they arrest me and the tens of thousands who buy this in Ukraine, Russia, and eastern Europe?

Nope, they only seem interested in busting midshipmen at Anapolis and an odd programmer or two, while Turkey, China, and Russia clean their clock.

[68skylark]

Thanks for the album tip. I heard the song "Train Home" by Smither on the radio a few weeks ago. I usually don't get hooked on any one performer just from hearing one song one time, but that song really hooked me. (A similar thing happened a few years ago with the singer/guitar player Harvey Reid and his version of "John Barleycorn.")