Sanity's Journal: Latest threat to P2P comes from within

Altnet, the company most responsible for the proliferation of spyware, recently acquired a patent which allows easy identification of files on a P2P network. In the words of Derek Broes, Altnet's executive vice president of worldwide operations, Altnet will "...focus on protecting and commercializing our patented technology and realizing the potential it offers content owners by commercializing peer-to-peer networks". Just another day in the world of little-league software companies you think. Not so.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this picture. The so-called "Truenames" patent, filed in 1997, is little-more than a marketspeak-friendly name slapped on a decades old and widely known technique in computer science called "hashing". A hashing algorithm takes a file, and produces a "signature" for that file, a short set of letters and numbers that, for any two identical files, will always be the same. This technique has often been used to detect identical files, or to verify the integrity of software downloaded over the Internet. Clearly, it requires very little imagination to suppose that hashing might also prove useful when verifying the integrity of files on a P2P network.

This, of course, puts Mr Broes' quote in a somewhat sinister new light. In a classic example of P.R "doublespeak", what he refers to as protection, most would see as an anti-competitive offensive, and what he refers to as commercialization, most would refer to as extortion. Yes, the implication of recent public statements from Altnet is that they plan to use their government granted monopoly on an obvious idea to force other P2P companies, through threat of litigation, into cooperating with whatever scheme they are cooking up.

It is hard to overstate the bitter irony of a company, their main innovation being the loathed spyware, threatening real innovators in the P2P space for using a technique that Altnet made no contribution toward but which they now claim as their property. Altnet's initial targets seem to be designed to place them on the moral high-ground, as most are companies trying to track down copyright infringers on P2P networks. It may only be a matter of time, however, before they attack Shareaza, BitTorrent, eDonkey or others.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Firstly, given the facts I have just outlined, this patent should be overturned if anyone fights it, it obviously fails the non-obviousness requirement for patents, and there is plenty of prior art out there.

Secondly, the Federal Trade Commission recently published a report acknowledging the problems with the US patent system and making a number of recommendations which will make it harder for Truenames-style patents to be granted in the future, and easier to challenge those that have already been granted.

In the EU, concerned citizens and subjects mounted a spirited opposition to the attempted introduction of US-style software patents, and were successful in getting the European Parliament to amend the proposal such that software patents were not permitted. The battle in the EU is far from over, but it is heartening to see rank and file computer enthusiasts and small businesses raise their voice and be heard over the paid lobbyists of big software.

So, danger on the horizon, but also hope. With luck Altnet will renounce patent-blackmail as a business model. With even more luck the FTC's recommendations will be implemented, and the EU will listen to the voice of their citizenry with respect to software patents. In the mean time, those threatened by Altnet must stand firm or risk emboldening them and those like them even further.

Deja Vu?

[Feztaa]

I could have sworn that I read this exact JE yesterday... gah, I must be losing it.