Want true filesharing security? Change the apps slightly!
Require each download to go through at least two other "proxy" users on the network before reaching the true downloader. Split up large files so they flow though two or a dozen proxies -- a random number of added hops just to keep things anonymous. Of course the first point of business is to drop usernames altogether. Give each client a hash that's unique for one session only.
This isn't the most efficient method (not really an issue with highspeed anyway) but it does mean they can no longer go after the IP address supplying the file because it would be half a dozen instead of one, and those people wouldn't be the ones who possessed the file in question anyway. They would just be links in an "anonymizer chain."
Since *all* users would be a possible proxy as a condition of using the software, it cannot be argued that they were facilitating anything (like stolen property, etc) -- they were just part of an anonymous file sharing program that transfers "legitimate" files just as easily as the others.
This is far from a complete proposal, but I'll bet some interprising programmers can take it from here.
jwsmiths4 Part Man, Part Mac Premium join:2003-10-25 Savannah, GA
Seems like that would only cause other users (who were on the network downloading/uploading something that may not be illegal) to get sued by the RIAA/MPAA because they were involved in the transfer of illegal material - even though they didn't mean to be.
reply to Mr Pilkington What your describing doesn't sound much diffrent from the way freenet works. In addition to using proxys, there is no way of knowing weather a request came from a proxy or a user. And no way to know if the file is being served by a user or a proxy. And encryption.
