University of Washington

(Image used under: Creative Commons 3.0 [SRC])

The University of Washington has proven how ineffective the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) bully corporations have been identifying suspected infringers on their copyrighted works.

The paper finds that there is a serious flaw in how these trade groups finger reported file-sharers. It also suggests that some people might be getting improperly accused of sharing copyrighted content, and could even be purposely framed by other users. An inanimate object could also get the blame. The researchers rigged the software agents to implicate three laserjet printers, which were then accused in takedown letters by the M.P.A.A. of downloading copies of “Iron Man ? and the latest Indiana Jones film.

So they've show that it's possible to frame others for the download of materials. I wonder what that will do to the lawsuits.

Download responsibly - which also means keeping your downloading habits private.

(Image is in the Public Domain)

Not too long ago, a good friend of mine did a lot of work in understanding how copyright holders (such as those represented by the RIAA and MPAA for example) act and react to Peer 2 Peer filesharing networks.

I managed to dig up his 20 page essay on the topic which provides an in-depth summary of the P2P issue including suggestions on how to avoid being identified on a P2P network.

This is a great resource for someone who needs historical information on the issue or who is interested in building a secure P2P app. Also see my article on avoiding P2P nightmares for parents for additional tips and tricks.