Poisoned Torrents Plague Mybittorrent 542
jambarama writes "One of the biggest problems with the Fasttrack network has been poisoning. This is the practice of sharing a file on a P2P network that looks like the real thing, but isn't. Bittorrent until recently has been largely immune to this. Now a new type of torrent is tricking bittorrent sites to rising to the top of the download lists." From the article: "According to Rex, about 50 new torrents have been released from what he calls "fake" trackers (~31 in total.) These trackers are seemingly part of an elaborate plot to infiltrate the BitTorrent community with intentionally corrupt files. These movie and film titles are specifically designed to report false information to trackers, thereby gaining artificially inflated popularity."
Re:IP addresses for copyright infringement lawsuit (Score:4, Informative)
Those who download these torrents are unable to complete a full download, as the file transfer stops at approximately 97%-98%.
Guess that would give plenty of time to harvest the IP, whilst the pirates end up with gigabytes of useless 1s & 0s....
I mean given the reported posioned torrents so far are:
"The Wedding Crashers"
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"
The first three episodes of "The O.C."
It seems unlikely that there is any legitimate use of these.
Re:So what is the problem? (Score:5, Informative)
New Breed of Corrupt Torrent Infiltrates BitTorrent
September 24, 2005
Thomas Mennecke
myBittorrent is a popular BitTorrent listing site used by tens of thousands of individuals each day. It also has become the focus of an individual or group of individuals looking to undermine the integrity of the BitTorrent community. Although false and corrupt files have been a part of the BitTorrent community since its beginning, a new kind is emerging that aims for maximum exposure.
"I think they are doing this to give BitTorrent a bad name," Rex, the administrator of myBittorrent told Slyck.com.
Of course the proverbial "they" is the real question. According to Rex, about 50 new torrents have been released from what he calls "fake" trackers (~31 in total.) These trackers are seemingly part of an elaborate plot to infiltrate the BitTorrent community with intentionally corrupt files. These movie and film titles are specifically designed to report false information to trackers, thereby gaining artificially inflated popularity.
"In a very short period of time, these false torrents have become most of my top downloads," Rex told Slyck.com. "I've never seen anything else before like it."
Those who download these torrents are unable to complete a full download, as the file transfer stops at approximately 97%-98%.
Here's how this clever plot works.
These trackers have published about 50 variant torrents of only three titles, "The Wedding Crashers", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and the first three episodes of "The O.C." Some titles are published as "DVD-rips" while others are pushed as "XviDs". Others are presented as an English or French releases.
This is done to disguise the origin of the torrent, and also to present a diverse array of choices. For example, if all were DVD-rips, their exposure would be limited to those only with enough bandwidth to download such large films. Having DVD-rips and XviDs exposes the torrent to a wider market.
According to Rex, the torrent originating from false trackers are intentionally reporting false information. For example, a corrupt torrent will report 400 seeds with 3000 leeches. Since the more individuals having a file are indicative of the file's download speed, it becomes a highly downloaded torrent and aids in its popularity.
The ruse is additionally disguised by spreading the torrent release from over 31 different trackers. Interestingly enough, although the identified trackers have different sub domains, they all originate from the same IP address.
It appears myBittorrent has borne the brunt of this attack; however these types of corrupt torrents have begun to appear on Mininova as well. Since the threat has been identified, the administration of myBittorrent has begun eliminating any torrent files originating from the identified trackers. At this time, the origins of the attack are unknown. But their initial goal of gaining maximum exposure certainly did work, if only for a short while.
Not really a problem? (Score:3, Informative)
To little to late. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Don't allow those trackers in the torrents... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Answer me this. (Score:5, Informative)
IP Ban! (Score:5, Informative)
The solution suggests itself. Is PeerGuardian [sourceforge.net] onto that IP address yet?
The nature of torrent sites (Score:3, Informative)
Unlike kazaaaaaaaaaaaa *ahem* torrent sites are well enough maintained and policed and false files can be easilyed removed.
RTFA (Score:4, Informative)
"These trackers have published about 50 variant torrents of only three titles, "The Wedding Crashers", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and the first three episodes of "The O.C." Some titles are published as "DVD-rips" while others are pushed as "XviDs". Others are presented as an English or French releases."
Hmm... The Wedding Crashers, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the OC. Yep, sounds like old and obscure stuff to me that you can't find at the theater/DVD aisle at Wal-Mart.
Re:Enforcement (Score:5, Informative)
criminal vs civil (Score:3, Informative)
We do have entrapment laws when it comes to criminal cases, however. IANAL but there is lots of controversy around how entrapment is applied. The basics are just like you outlined above. Essentially, a law enforcement agent can not break the law in order to get YOU to break the law. That's a simplistic version but hopefully someone else smarter than me can chime in and explain it better.
Re:IP addresses for copyright infringement lawsuit (Score:2, Informative)
Right. When non-police do it, it's called something else. If I trick you into doing something that hurts me, and then sue you for doing so, that's fraud instead of entrapment.
Re:isn't it illegal? (Score:3, Informative)
And as we know - the intent is not enough. Or is it over there in USA?
IP Addresses of the Banned Trackers (for Azuerus) (Score:3, Informative)
Here are the IP's:
85.64.70.229
71.130.204.152
71.132.6.18
206.81.133.67
69.236.99.244
Re:IP addresses for copyright infringement lawsuit (Score:2, Informative)
Re:IP addresses for copyright infringement lawsuit (Score:4, Informative)
Media Sentry (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.mediasentry.com/ [mediasentry.com]
They have thousands of linux boxes scattered around out there, some of which they make high profile so people think they "know" where their boxes are, but there are others that are a lot more discreet, some which don't even corrupt just take notes on whats being stolen, then they sell that data to the copyright holders.
I think what they do is on the fuzzy side of legal, however, it is helping copyright holders protect what is theirs.
Re:Only if you never have a problem with software (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Am I the only one? (Score:2, Informative)
if there's lots of friendly seeders who keep BT open once they're done, then the amount of "free" download you can get without needing to upload rises. this is where you'll see your download speeds outpace your upload speeds.
today's lesson - be nice, and leave your torrents seeding. everyone benefits.
if you're in a swarm with 20% or higher seeds, and you still cap out at your upload speed, then you need to examine your local settings - make sure ports are open in your firewall, make sure you're not swamping your upstream and stopping downstream acks from going out, etc.
No, you're wrong. (Score:4, Informative)
I got pimp-slapped for repeating this some time ago right here on Slashdot, so allow me to pass on some enlightenment about US copyright law.
The 1997 No Electronic Theft Act [wikipedia.org] "amends the definition of "commercial advantage or private financial gain" to include the exchange of copies of copyrighted works even if no money changes hands and specifies penalties of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines".
Nothing there about any "organized ring". If you're running a P2P client and you upload six hojillion copies of the latest plebeian pablum, guess what---you're liable for jail time and a hefty fine. Enjoy!
Uh, no. (Score:3, Informative)
Now, skipping commercials on DVDs, if it requires that you go around the CSS, does violate the DMCA [wikipedia.org]---though I'm not sure if only the coder who cracked CSS (thus creating a device to circumvent copyright protection) is liable under that law, or you are for using it. IANAL, after all. But what you describe is mostly already illegal.
Re:IP addresses for copyright infringement lawsuit (Score:3, Informative)
The definition states:
Government agents have performed entrapment if three things occur:
1) the idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.
2) the government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving him the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading him to commit the crime.
3) the person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.
1) It was your idea to download it, not the goverment agent's
2) Nobody said "pssst, you really should download some Metallica, come on, forget the law!"
3) You were definitely ready and willing to go ahead with the download
I don't see how you cold argue against any of those points.
So it's not entrapment or whatever passes for entrapment.
Re:Answer me this. (Score:5, Informative)
I think you're confused about what entrapment actually is. Entrapment is inducing someone to break the law, like if an undercover cop was luring ricers into racing him so his buddy down the road could bust them. Simply setting up a situation where people will get caught doing what they would be doing anyway is NOT entrapment.
Those prostitution stings are carefully arranged so that they aren't entrapment. The undercover cop doesn't go walking up to peoples cars and soliciting them. Instead, she just stands around looking like she might be a prostitute, and the johns approach her. It's still a honeytrap, but not entrapment, since the john walks into it entirely of his own accord.
And while we're on the subject, a civil case has a much lower bar for what's admissible as evidence than a criminal trial. Something that would be thrown out as entrapment in a criminal case could be perfectly acceptable in a civil one.
Re:So what? (Score:5, Informative)
So yes, I do feel entitled to the X-Men cartoon series, as well as any other media, because I actually am entitled to it! The Public Domain is the natural state of intellectual works. It is only by my (and every other American citizen's) good graces that artist have any monopoly at all.
Re:Are you sure? (Score:3, Informative)
"Napster users infringe at least two of the copyright holders' exclusive rights: the rights of reproduction, 106(1); and distribution, 106(3). Napster users who upload file names to the search index for others to copy violate plaintiffs' distribution rights. Napster users who download files containing copyrighted music violate plaintiffs' reproduction rights." See A&M RECORDS, Inc. v. NAPSTER, INC., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001) (emphasis added)."