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Peer-to-Peer Computing >> Meeting the P2P Challenge
1/31/2005
Today, programs such as Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh, and others operate on what has become known as the FastTrack network. This decentralized approach utilizes something called super-peers to create temporary indexing servers that would allow the network to scale to unparalleled heights. Any client may become a super-peer if the user’s computer and Internet connection are powerful enough. While this approach raises certain security risks (how do you know a user isn’t spreading spyware or other malicious programs?), programs such as DietK can strip the official P2P clients of malware (viruses, worms, spyware, and other forms of security threats), while adding functionality across the board.
“You’d be amazed how many students stopped illegally sharing files just because they know ICARUS is always watching and they’ll get caught,” says Bird, doing his best to channel Orwellian ideals. “We didn’t try to break down the doors, so to speak, we just wanted to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got law enforcement here and we’ll detect you speeding.’”
Still, it’s not just the specter of getting fingered that has students t'eing the line; UF programmers built a number of responses into ICARUS targeted specifically toward policy enforcement. A first violation of campus P2P policy disables a student’s network access for 30 minutes; the second cuts off access for a full five days (a lifetime, in teen years). Third-time offenders are subject to the school’s hearing-based judicial process, and their network access is restricted to campus-only access for seven to 30 days, depending on the severity of the infraction. While the system’s ability to detect violations almost instantaneously deters many students from abusing P2P privileges, Bird says it’s the consequence for three offenses that scares users the most—life without Internet use on campus today is like music without an MP3 player; possible, but practically unbearable, no matter what the circumstances.
Actually, this “no file servers” policy has been in place at UF for several years, and dates back to the mid-1990s, when the campus put it into place to curb the use of free university network bandwidth by students using it to run their own commercial Web sites. ICARUS isn’t designed to prevent all forms of file sharing, though—just illegal usage. With this in mind, Bruce Block, senior VP of Technology at the RIAA, says his organization deems it an admirable program, and adds that other colleges could learn a lot from ICARUS. If all schools enacted similar systems, he points out, higher education might be able to reduce the estimated $34 billion in pirated music copyright fees lost to P2P last year alone, and even keep some of those dollars on campuses.
At Penn State, a group of open source programmers have created LionShare, a new P2P architecture.
“What the University of Florida has done in its combination of policy, student education, and technology is an excellent example of what can be done in the university system [to combat illegal file sharing],” he opines.
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