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funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords

MVM

BitComet's P2SP HTTP-based Protocol May Help Transfers

P2P Fans --

BitComet (since versions 0.9x) has a "CometZone" or "MemberZone" feature which creates a secondary P2P network using HTTP for downloads instead of BitTorrent. The protocol is known as P2SP in China. BitComet sometimes also calls it Persistent Seeding or Long-Time Seeding.

As the protocol is based on HTTP, a deep packet inspection is likely to reveal transfers as HTTP.

To use this feature,

1. the *.torrent file must NOT be encoded as "Private" (note: *.torrents from private trackers are always marked private).

2. the DHT network must be enabled

3. you must be registered and signed in to BitComet's network

4. you must have Persistent Seeding or Long-Time Seeding turned on in options.

The latest version is 1.0, which I have not used. The last version I used was 0.99 Beta.

You should also know this:

1. With this feature enabled, you may notice that you are uploading even though no BitTorrent tasks are running in BitComet. It is during these times that you are the Long-Time Seeder.

2. There is a separate bandwidth setting in Options to control how much bandwidth you are willing to donate to the P2SP/LT-Seeding network. Your bandwidth is a donation -- there is no upload/download ratio going on.

3. This feature is proprietary to BitComet, which is a closed-source client with development in China. I have used BitComet on several occasions. Once in a while, I've found bugs affecting privacy, but I've never seen any outright privacy abuses. As with any closed-source application, you either trust the developers or you do not use it.

canadabound
join:2008-03-27

canadabound

Member

Thanks for the tip but most people use private trackers and this is no good.

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

1 edit

Guspaz to funchords

MVM

to funchords
Yeah, BitComet is banned pretty much everywhere because of its' abusive practices.

EDIT: Wow, this thread is already in the top search results on Google for "P2SP"

Anyhow, it seems from the Wikipedia description that this just runs an HTTP server when you're seeding. It's not particularly special.

Quake110
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Ottawa, ON

Quake110 to funchords

Premium Member

to funchords
said by funchords:

3. This feature is proprietary to BitComet, which is a closed-source client with development in China. I have used BitComet on several occasions. Once in a while, I've found bugs affecting privacy, but I've never seen any outright privacy abuses. As with any closed-source application, you either trust the developers or you do not use it.
I'll pass. I'll wait until open-source clients (Azureus) develop their own feature.

AnitBell
@teksavvy.com

AnitBell

Anon

Bitcom is a resource hog.

An On
@teksavvy.com

An On to funchords

Anon

to funchords
What about more encapsulations for common p2p protocols? Traffic has to look like something that must not be throttled at any time. Encapsulations must be added quickly to bypass filters as they are being developed.

One can encapsulate payloads in HTTP, FTP, even POP3! "Client" connects to "server" and downloads all files in a directory or all e-mails with attachments. Except that there are no files and no e-mails - they are generated on the fly by the "server" and parsed on the fly by the "client". HTTP, FTP, POP3 allow binary items (we can have encrypted payloads with clear headers).

I am pretty sure one can embed payloads even in DNS queries/responses and send those over UDP to port 53 (overhead would be high though). What needs to be encrypted though are the communications between the client and the tracker - and those can be slow/throttled. One can even send them over the Tor network so that a packet inspector cannot base decisions on known tracker IP addresses.

funchords
Hello
MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA

funchords

MVM

Don't try POP3 or NNTP. If you're going to innovate (which I encourage!), please innovate where binary data doesn't have to be downconverted into printable ASCII before it gets transferred.

A lot of people have fled to NNTP to avoid the MediaDefenders and MediaSentry nonsense. What a terribly inefficient way to transfer binary files.
funchords

funchords to Guspaz

MVM

to Guspaz
said by Guspaz:

Yeah, BitComet is banned pretty much everywhere because of its' abusive practices.
That's true -- but the abusive practices turned out to be a false rumor.

Besides Comcast, the other P2P controversy I worked on:

»www.p2pnet.net/story/12959

anon45645654
@rogers.com

anon45645654

Anon

Private trackers?

I thought all the linux iso's were on public trackers?

Oh wait......it's not really about access to free software. The thousands of posts and complaints are because access to pirated software and movies is being impeded.

I've got it straight now.

lolhehehehehe
@teksavvy.com

lolhehehehehe

Anon

said by anon45645654 :

Private trackers?

I thought all the linux iso's were on public trackers?

Oh wait......it's not really about access to free software. The thousands of posts and complaints are because access to pirated software and movies is being impeded.

I've got it straight now.
Actually, if you do a search on the forum, you'll notice it's been pointed out we're talking about Angelo's type of "Linux ISO's" Witch, are in fact a special type of "Linux ISO's" witch are better found on private trackers. That doesn't mean it's pirated software.

mazhurg
Premium Member
join:2004-05-02
Brighton, ON

mazhurg to anon45645654

Premium Member

to anon45645654
said by anon45645654 :

Private trackers?

I thought all the linux iso's were on public trackers?

Oh wait......it's not really about access to free software. The thousands of posts and complaints are because access to pirated software and movies is being impeded.

I've got it straight now.
[rant]
My my... Just so you know, while it may not affect your blinders, I strongly object to what BCE is doing.

Do I use a P2P/BT program? Occasionally. I average 5-10GB month total traffic so can garantee you that I don't use the system for copywright violations in any way.

However, when what little I do, files I transfer, gaming I do, software updates, voice, streams and others get hampered by an illegal (privacy busting), immoral (done sneakily - in contrenvation of contract) program that sits there and assume that I am a criminal by default (white listing); and done by a company that is loathed and of wich I go out of my way not to do business with and still affect me well I think that they may have gone a little overboard and need to be pushed back hard and loudly.

[/rant]
Expand your moderator at work

Sukunai
@dsl.bell.ca

Sukunai to funchords

Anon

to funchords

Re: BitComet's P2SP HTTP-based Protocol May Help Transfers

"Private trackers?

I thought all the linux iso's were on public trackers?

Oh wait......it's not really about access to free software. The thousands of posts and complaints are because access to pirated software and movies is being impeded.

I've got it straight now."

Actually anon45645654, 2 weeks ago, I'd have even agreed with you. But I have had to crawl out of my limited viewpoint and realize, that while a great wealth of data is indeed as illegal as the day is long, the fact is, only an uninformed person actually thinks this is just about illegal data transmission.

Only the stupid fools of Bell management think this is just about illegal data transmission.
Just like those fools think there's only a handful of disgruntled users making all the noise.
Just like those fools think the word "satisfaction" belongs anywhere in this debate.

Now if you want to stand next to Bell Canada, I'll call you a stupid fool too.

An On
@teksavvy.com

An On to funchords

Anon

to funchords
Don't try POP3 or NNTP. If you're going to innovate (which I encourage!), please innovate where binary data doesn't have to be downconverted into printable ASCII before it gets transferred.
If downconverting data to ASCII is what it takes to bypass censorship - it is good too. After all, ISPs have to allow some kinds of traffic to be useful, this is what should be used.

Because of that ASCII conversion, POP3 should be one of the last on the list of encapsulations. But here are its benefits:

POP3 port is usually not blocked

POP3 servers can be in any network

POP3 allows 8-bit ASCII (Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit), which reduces the number of disallowed characters. Lower characters 0x00 to 0x1F and 0x80 to 0x9F are still not allowed, but everything else (0xA0 to 0xFF) is. So, quoted-printable and base64 should be replaced with something more efficient.
Rastan
join:2007-04-25
Canada

Rastan to funchords

Member

to funchords
Thanks for the info, I'll check it out. I use both public and private trackers so what I'll do is continue to use Azureus for torrents hosted on private trackers and try out BitComet on public trackers.

Have you tested this version of BitComet using a throttled Internet connection?

HighwindX
@teksavvy.com

HighwindX to funchords

Anon

to funchords
Hi, everyone...
I have using BitComet from day 1 and I have to say that it is good!

About the P2SP thing, guys... it is the only way you can get around with this crazy Bell mess now... What I do is for the things that have public tracker, I will download during the throttling period. But for things that have only private tracker, I will download it during Bell called "Non-peaked period".

I can retain my maximum speed all the time...like 240+ KB/second... I know P2SP is not as popular as P2P yet... but don't forget, the more of jus joining in using Bitcomet, the more we can benefit...

P2SP is using HTTP traffic and Bell is not blocking HTTP traffic (YET)...

Thanks.