Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
It’s normal these days for anti-piracy companies to target P2P protocols and applications such as BitTorrent, LimeWire and eDonkey. Targeting the newsgroups or Usenet is fairly unusual but add that to the fact that one particular company isn’t going after pirates but the original content purchaser, this approach seems relatively unique.
In a recent article we introduced Usenet or newsgroups as they are sometimes known. Without doubt, Usenet is one of the most secure ways to download and share material and although it costs a little money to access a premium Usenet provider each month, many consider it’s worth it - especially considering the blisteringly fast download speeds, massive range of content and no RIAA or MPAA looking one’s shoulder.
However, a ‘new’ anti-piracy technology is claimed to have arrived in town, one which will not focus on traditional file-sharing networks but will target Usenet. The makers of the system acknowledge that trying to shut down Usenet in the way that BitTorrent and eDonkey sites have been shut down in the past, is totally not an option. There are thousands of newsgroups with millions of people sharing content with others almost anonymously and even the anti-piracy company says that Usenet is virtually impossible to regulate. Not a good environment for anti-piracy enforcement. So how does it work?
Apparently, TriMark is a “state-of-the-art one of a kind encryption technology” which will be used to track content made available on Usenet. It’s believed it’s a type of digital fingerprint embedded in files which can uniquely identify the original purchaser of the content, usually audio tracks. The claim is that the identification code maintains it’s integrity, despite copying or ripping. TriMark will then scan newsgroups for content that contains these embedded security codes. It will then supposedly identify the original purchaser of the material who will be pursued for damages relating to the claimed lost sales from every illegal copy spawned from his officially purchased copy.
Just this week it was revealed that some iTunes tracks contain the personal details of the person who downloaded the track, prompting privacy concerns. Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said, “At a minimum, many would have appreciated it if Apple had notified them in some conspicuous way. Even after the recent media attention, it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of iTunes customers still have no idea that their names and email addresses are embedded in these files.” It’s unclear if people purchasing TriMark ‘protected’ tracks will be informed that their details are included in material they purchase.
The system is destined to roll out in 2008 when it is expected to make zero impact on the amount or type of material shared on Usenet.
:source: Source: TorrentFreak
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
/me hopes this doesn't affect her usenet!
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
Does backlarse always speak in the 3rd person? :huh:
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
What a funny article. Thanks for the lulz! :)
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
wow.. very interesting!
ty :)
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
I'll be blowin this out me arse. "They'll" just remove this "embedded digital fingerprint" like they remove any other encrypted shenanigans. Usenet for the win!
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
lets see 99% of the stuff i see on usenet are scene releases. How exactly are they going to get the release groups to use their fingerprint technology is whats got me stumped completely.
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
Maybe the idea is that this digital 'fingerprint' will not change even if it is copied somehow. For example, if a group releases a dvdrip of a movie that has a digital 'fingerprint', the 'fingerprint' will automatically be imprinted in the encoded copy somehow. This is just my theory, but then again, I don't know much about anti-p2p methods. But one thing I do know is that, this 'protection' will be cracked and p2p will win yet again.
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
Well in that case, that company is going to have to team up with every software, game, and video retailer that the scene does retail rips/releases of.
That's just too much to handle.
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hairbautt
Does backlarse always speak in the 3rd person? :huh:
hahaha. didn't even see this post. I only use it when I want to express a thought, I guess. I used to use the "/me" command a lot in irc...an old habit.
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
/me always thought it was funny and he uses it a lot too.
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
/me didn't know ewe was a wumun. :O
Re: Anti-Piracy Outfit to Spy On Usenet, Punish Legitimate Purchasers
