Group offers alternative to P2P bill

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With Napster, everyone had to log on to centralized servers thus creating a choke point: the centralization itself. Before, all users were downloading the same files off the same servers.

The issue is how users find out what other users have on offer. Napster used a central reference. Current systems use a kind of daisy chain based around a temporary hub. The most substantial difference is that there is now no way for the debeloper/operator to know what is being shared.

When the Napster replacments like Gnutella were being prepared, there were a lot of discussions about scalability. And the authors were often asked whether they were vulnerable to legal challenge in the same way Napster was. Their answer was always No, because they could not know what was being shared.
Not RIAA propaganda, just good sense on the part of those at risk of doing something illegal. They stayed within the law as they knew it.

The good news about the latest Court decision is the assertion that even if RIAA is right, that 90% of file sharing is infringed material, it doesn't matter. There are substantial noninfringing uses.

Better, those responsible for the system have no requirement to change the software or go looking for illegal activity.

So this issue is settled, except that there's a possible new law to worry about. What any new law should do, if anything, is the issue here.

Even agreeing with you sometimes leads to contention.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 08/24/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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