Wednesday, November 7, 2012


John Barnes
IT 103 Section 012
BitTorrent and Peer to Peer Sharing
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Introduction
            BitTorrent software is the most recent in a long line of peer to peer file sharing methods. The basic concept behind peer to peer (or P2P, as it is often abbreviated) software is transferring files across multiple machines directly to other machines via the internet, avoiding the burden of paying for long-term file hosting. (Matheus, 2012) The difference between BitTorrent and previous peer to peer software is that while all files went through a central network, whereas BitTorrent creates many, many individual networks. This further reduces the load on any one individual, making it ideal for file distribution on a large scale. (Yueh-Min Huang, 2012) However, many problems plague BitTorrent as a method of distribution. For instance, while the platform is ideal for small-scale independent distribution, it’s also ideal for piracy and other illegal activity, such as the distribution of malware or theft of personal information. However, the platform is still in its infancy and has potential to become both widespread and very helpful in making information widely available.
Background
            Peer to peer software first gained mainstream attention with the use of Napster, a peer to peer platform initially released in 1999. In 2000, a variety of musicians and music labels discovered that their copyright material was available for (illegal, free) download off of Napster before its release date. After a series of lawsuits, Napster was shut down. (PR Newswire, 2000) However, the basic idea of peer to peer file transfer refused to die, and the BitTorrent protocol was invented to serve the same basic function. However, while Napster specifically was created for the sharing of audio files, BitTorrent is not intended for any specific use aside from decreasing the amount of data one server or network must transfer at once. BitTorrent protocol users are divided into two categories: “seeders” and “leechers.” A seeder is an initial holder of a file. The file is divided into pieces and downloaded one at a time by leechers. Once a leecher has parts of a file, they can begin to seed those portions of the file. Once a seeder has sent a file out, the leechers will send out the same file. While traditional downloading downloads one large file sequentially, a torrent will download the same file, split into many pieces, piece by piece and assemble them out of sequence. This is helpful for those who cannot maintain a connection long enough to complete a large download, as using a variety of smaller downloads requires the same approximate total time, it requires a much less focused connection. (Yueh-Mn Huang, 2012)
Potential Benefits
            Within the realm of legal use of BitTorrent, it has provided an easier and cheaper way to distribute media, effectively crowd-sourcing the file hosting. This has been used by a variety of music distributors, most notably Sub Pop Records and the bands Nine Inch Nails, Death Grips, and Radiohead to provide lossless, legal, high-quality audio files of their music without having to pay for the hosting space required to provide their audience with such large files, which also had the unintentional benefit of relieving audiophiles with poor internet connections of the burden of massive, impossible downloads. (Business Wire, 2012) The software also allows publishing of free media in a way that doesn’t require the creator operating at a loss by waiving fees associated with file and web hosting. As a result, BitTorrent has become popular among many independent media distributors and publishers. Many large-scale software companies also use BitTorrent to provide updates – for instance, the popular videogame company Blizzard uses torrent protocols to update their games more efficiently because multiple gigabyte downloads are too large to distribute via a traditional protocol. As these examples show, torrent protocols can be used to make larger downloads available more easily for a wider variety of people despite connection speed. As the size and complexity of software being distributed increases, this capability could become vital if size of downloads continue to grow faster than average download speed.
Legal and Ethical Issues
            The obvious legal and ethical issue with regards to torrenting is its frequent use to violate copyrights and distribute illegal material. However, while these uses certainly exist, this shouldn’t be used as an argument against the platform itself. (By, 2000) Those interested in illegal downloads will continue to do so regardless of platform. Many users of BitTorrent software have been sued for illegal downloading of copyrighted materials. The ethical issues associated with piracy are complicated, but legally the standpoint is obviously against. As a result, the music industry, most notably the RIAA have filed many legal suits attempting to restrict the availability of file sharing software. (Budden, 2012) Piracy is a problem that has always and most likely will always plague the internet. This, of course, raises a new ethical dilemma: What should be done about software and protocols that have often been used for the purpose of piracy? The outright banning of these concepts is draconian and would ultimately prove to be ineffective. Putting restraints in place to limit the prevalence of piracy on peer to peer networks would be difficult, but more effective than banning the fairly recent development in computing. The fact that piracy over peer to peer networks wasn’t killed with Napster proves that the destruction of BitTorrent protocols would fail to solve the underlying problem.
Security Concerns
            Security is another huge problem with torrent software, however. Because the basic concept involves sending files directly to and from other users, the potential for abuse is incredible. Sending false pieces of data disguised as a desirable file is (relatively) easy, and once one user has unwittingly downloaded it, they will immediately begin to upload it to others. The results could be and have been disastrous. However, when used in conjunction with anti-virus software, the threat of installing malware is much less dangerous. Anti-viral software should (ideally) be used to scan most downloads anyway, so this inconvenience is in the end not much greater than any inherent risks in downloading files off of the internet. Using only trusted and reviewed BitTorrent and other peer to peer clients and only allowing the software to access the files you explicitly intend to share can also help reduce the risks associated with the software. The software also has the potential, however, to be misused for denial of service attacks (Matheus, 2012) and as a result should perhaps not be used on public networks as it could deny service for other users. This too, however, is easily fixable through IP restrictions and a variety of other features available in most BitTorrent clients.
Conclusion
            BitTorrent software is an exciting and potentially very useful distribution platform, and presents a new and arguably better way to go about downloading files. While the ethics and legality of the protocol are still up for debate, it’s undeniable that it’s here to stay. While debate between the music industry and online pirates will presumably eventually pick a new field to battle on, BitTorrent will hopefully become a non-malicious software that helps make knowledge more readily available as the copyright holders intend it to be, instead of used almost primarily for illicit piracy. In the future, with any luck, security and ethical concerns will be fixed, resulting in a safe, cheap, and reliable distribution platform for files via the internet.


Works Cited
A report on the illicit uses of peer to peer sharing, explaining how BitTorrent has been used unethically recently.
A brief summary of the events leading to the shutting down of Napster, one of the initial peer to peer networks.

A readable, recent source explaining security problems in BitTorrent, offering potential solutions.


Helpful statistics about the prevalence of illicit file sharing over peer to peer networks.
A bit dated, but a detailed defense of file sharing on ethical grounds, which I used to help construct some arguments.
Yueh-Min Huang, Mohammad, S. O., Kato, N., & Der-Jiunn Deng. (2012). Multimedia P2P networking: Protocols, solutions and future directions. Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications, 5(4), 309-311. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12083-012-0169-z
A solid explanation of how and why to use peer to peer networking as well as a description of potential untapped uses.
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