P2P pirates, passwords, IPTV, encryption becomes Morgan

" what's the f*****g point of putting passwords on files anyway when it's clearly identifiable what the file is ?? - another, not-so-happy user

IT'S ENCRYPTED! I heard, loudly. I was waiting in line to send a fax at an internet cafe when I overheard a pair of teens, complaining in front of their rent-by-the-hour internet connected computer. "You need a .zip password cracker", I replied trying to be nice and sniff what they were up to. "For a 700mb cd image? forget it!" he replied. "But you know, the .zip password protection is pretty weak", I challenged the know-it-all. "Oh yeah, but this is a 700mb .RAR, we're f****d!". Oh yes they were, so I decided to mind my own business.

I sent the fax and headed home. Before leaving the place, I looked back at the teens... they were still trying to brute-force, guess the password or somehow decrypt the file. "The password must be somewhere... I spent a week downloading this movie!" one told the other with some resignation. That got me thinking and after arriving home I finally found what they were talking about.

Complaints and comments from P2P downloaders

It turns out that 'groups' - that is, the folks who routinely 'release' copies of movies, software, and porn on pirate boards, and even more so, Peer-to-Peer file sharing networks- have been encrypting -password protecting with Winrar - their releases, apparently for quite some time by now... with the first reports of such practice appearing two years ago. And this practice seems to be only increasing. Now, one can find even password-trading forums, and torrent password "search engines", so that gives you an idea of how widespread the use of such practice is as of late.

Pay to discuss the passwords... for files shared by others... on P2P networks

This is very ironic, indeed, on one side you have the industry -at least the movie and music industry- trying to force ugly, often windows-only Digital Rights Management (DRM) down the users' throat, all in the name of fighting the pirates. On the other, poorly lit side, you have the pirates breaking the industry protections, repackaging content to smaller sizes (DVD to xvid/divx, for example) and then releasing such pirate copies, but now *encrypted* once again, but supposedly to protect their own backs, or perhaps for some, even for profit.

While speaking to a local who's very knowledgeable about the "P2P scene", he told me that some groups include links on the encrypted releases to their site forums. And that you must then pay them for the privilege of getting access to the "passwords discussion" forums. Now while this probably won't protect anyone from getting busted by the powers that be, it certainly makes things more difficult for the whistle blowers and the people like RIAA or MPAA. But hey, if the P2P users can eventually find the passwords, so can the lawyers.

But if you add to it traffic encryption, things get even more interesting, and harder to control by ISPs as well. Where, how, and when will this end?. I don't know. Perhaps when the same movie industry gets their "on demand" content purchase -notice I said "on-demand purchase" not rent -people like to own their bits, not pay through the nose every time as greedy execs would hope.

The only hope we consumers have is that IPTV is done right, with "on demand" and DRM-free content purchases act together. Will that happen? I'm not holding my breath. So instead of just ending this here, I leave you with this quote from "Pirates of the Caribbean": "The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that some day".µ

See Also
Feb-2006: Motorola acquires Linux-based IPTV vendor
Legal uses for Bittorrent
Azureus,a popular Bittorrent client
Encrypting Bittorrent to take out traffic shapers
European police flogging a dead eDonkey
"The Scene"
IT firms pirated more software than others
BSA 'piracy' report dismissed as scaremongering
EDS workers had 'porn piracy business on the side'
File sharing pirates are 'like organized criminals, terrorists'
Morgan: King of the Buccaneers
Talk like a Pirate
Talk like a Pirate Day - UK Headquarters
"Pirates suck, and Morgan is a p***y"