File-Sharing Networks

Report: Loudeye Seeding File-Sharing Networks With Pop-Ups, Adware

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 4, 2005 - 3:19am.

San Francisco -- PCWorld.com recently reported that Overpeer, an anti-piracy firm owned by Seattle-based Loudeye, has been seeding peer-to-peer file-sharing networks with spoof music and video files that launch pop-up ads, install adware and attempt to hijack a browser's home page. When a user downloads such a Windows Media Audio or Video file on a peer-to-peer network and then attempts to open it, the file launches the ads or adware instead of playing back the expected music or video. "Remember, the people who receive something like (the ad-laden media files), in some cases, were on P-to-P, and they were trying to get illicit files," Loudeye vice president Marc Morgenstern told PCWorld.com. Microsoft said it was looking into whether the spoof files violate the terms of its Windows Media licensing. "We wouldn't want to endorse anything that involved delivery of content that appears to be one thing, and then something else is delivered," Microsoft's David Moulton told PCWorld.com. When notified that ads for its company were being launched in this fashion, one company, Kanoodle, promptly had them removed. "Upon detecting or discovering any prohibited distribution activity, we eliminate it immediately," Kanoodle president Lance Podell told PCWorld.com.

FBI, File-Sharing Networks Team to Combat Child Pornography

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 7, 2004 - 2:45am.

Washington -- P2P United, a trade group representing a number of peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, on Thursday submitted a letter to Congress detailing how it is working with the FBI to create a "most wanted" list of suspected child pornography traders on their networks. In Congressional hearings, peer-to-peer networks have been vilified for offering easy access to pornography, and in some cases for trafficking adult content files mislabeled to possibly attract children. "Any time we can work with private industry to help us identify people who are using the Internet for child pornography, we are more than open to having talks with them," Keith Lordeau, a deputy assistant director in the FBI's Cyber Division, told Reuters. The program is expected to launch within two or three months.

tags: FBI | Combat | File-Sharing Networks | Pornography |