The war on filesharing doesn't look to be ending anytime soon, and the games of technological one-upmanship will likely continue on for as long as the internet survives. Broadband users still continue to share files, and the RIAA still continues press forward, sending out nastygrams and making examples out of people in court. The RIAA recently turned up the heat after winning their court case against Verizon. They then added more fuel to that fire by stating that they'd be targetting the biggest sharers out there.

So what have the filesharers done to combat this?

Some have voiced their opinions by boycotting the RIAA, which will be about as effective as the attempts to boycott Nissan for their domain name skulldoggery. A few have gone as far as to repeatedly hack the RIAA's website, though this generally reinforces the RIAA's ideology that all in favor of file-sharing are rebellious, law breaking criminals.

So what's the only thing left? Well, you could setup private file-sharing between yourself and some trusted friends, but then you have limited content. So what is there really left to do?

Anonymous, secured, peer-to-peer networks.

Earthstation5 promises the ability to go into "stealth mode". This means that your data is relayed through one of their many public proxies, masking your IP address. Right now, just like every other filesharing application early on in its lifespan, it's particularly slow. Also, thoughts come to mind about availability of bandwidth of public proxies. If everyone uses it, then won't the proxies become extremely bogged down?

There are other features of ESV. Aside from the one-click "stealth mode" proxy server, it allows for SSL. It also sends data using the UDP protocol, allowing for more efficient bandwidth usage. This also means that companies can't "batch scan" for users sharing files. The only way they could do so, is if they were in fact connected to the ESV network. ESV also uses Dynamic ports, making it more difficult for ISP's to do any traffic shaping (bandwidth limiting) of ESV.

But is it enough? Is it enough to protect the identity of those who wish to share files freely from large organizations like the RIAA/MPAA? ESV boasts that it doesn't display your IP address, but anyone with at least a miniscule level of computer proficiency can find other means of obtaining an IP address. So the question is, do the proxies really work? Will they continue to work when the masses join? Only time, (and the joining of masses) will tell.

EarthStation5 also addresses common flaws found in other filesharing applications. ESV has the ability to search for your desired file(s) across multiple super-nodes, offering better availability. The program also proactively ensures that the files are there, so that you're not trying to download from a host who's been offline for 30 minutes already. Also, ESV has employed a group of entrusted users which can put the "Green Light" on verified files. Supposedly, this means that you're guaranteed not to have a fake, or corrupted file.

The RIAA knows about this. But do they know how to combat it? How can they shut it down? They can't go after the developers, as they're based out of Palestine. International laws on filesharing are flaky at best, and as evidenced in the RIAA's attempts to prosecute the makers of KaZaa, finding and prosecuting individuals scattered around the globe is no easy task.

Can they target supernodes? Perhaps they may be able to build up a case that they're relaying pirated data, but the law states that only those who share the files are responsible. At best, the RIAA could only force the supernodes to release the IP addresses of those who share files through their proxies, but these proxies are intentionally setup to not carry logs of this information. So, what can you do? Make the proxies liable? But then you would make every single ISP and every single router on the internet liable for copyrighted material.

So now what? Only time can tell, but the game of cat and mouse will go on, and on, and on...