Thanks to zdr we can read another article on how a company is trying to get rid of the piracy on peer-to-peer (p2p) networks. This time they're using a technology known as Overpeer.
Overpeer appears to be distributing so many defective copies of a given file on P2P networks that users have a hard time locating an undamaged copy (also known as 'spoofing'):
 Overpeer "intervenes on behalf of our clients to protect their content from piracy on P2P networks. And, in certain cases, we also may help them build relationships with potential customers who happen to be on the P2P site," Morganstern said. |
Yet these media companies seem to feel the public relations ramifications of hiring Overpeer aren't completely positive. On some level they understand that P2P users are also potential customers -- record buyers, video renters or gamers -- and don't want to alienate them.
Overpeer protects "literally thousands and thousands of titles of multiple content types right now for various clients," he said. But Morganstern won't reveal exactly how Overpeer's technology works. He will say only that the company uses an "extensive network of servers," and that "there are several different techniques we use to intervene and make it very difficult to find and download pirated material. It involves software and hardware and proprietary information."
The article adds that although this 'spoofing' sounds effective every time new spoofing comes out, file-sharing services come out with a way to counter it. Let's hope it will stay this way since not all people who are on a p2p network are also pirates.
Source: Wired News
