Commentary on Napster and the Digital Age

by SiLeRePrAeSes

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Digital distribution, is it possible? As Napster has shown, yes it is possible. But Napster is more than just a distribution mechanism. It is a collaborative mechanism. It is something that corporations dream about. Having millions of people all working on the same project, producing. This is what the Internet was designed to do. But can this technique of communication be used for something other than breaking copyright laws?

The problem is that anything can be used for good or ill. Exchanging music isn't very good for the record companies, but the concept is something that distributed-computer enthusiasts are jumping for joy about. Here is a real world application, which has proven worldwide acceptance to the point that it has become part of our culture (for a time.) This effectively created a multi-thousand node, world-wide, fault tolerant computer system. If I can't get a piece of information from one source, I have 3 more sources with the same information. The only downside to this approach has been the central server that is required.

This central server approach actually isn't all that bad, when one takes into account what it allows. It allows access control, authentication, logging and all the things that are needed in a corporate environment. However, we are not confined to the corporate environment. In an article that Wired published [http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,37874,00.html], it states:

When Stein first encountered Napster, he thought scientists might
be able to use it for sharing genetic information. He began
investigating ways to use Napster-type technology to allow
scientists to share their research on the human genome.

The SETI@Home project is another example. In a headline dated 11-Aug-2000:

SETI@Home Continues To Grow
contributed by a whiner

This week, the University of California, Berkeley pledged
continued funding for its SETI@Home project. With over 2 million
personal and business computers donating spare cycles to the
project, SETI@Home has now effectively amassed the world's
largest distributed supercomputer.

This approach allows individuals the capability to do things that only corporations like Mitre could do before hand. Want to design the next generation stealth aircraft? Want to show that breaking encryption algorithms through brute force is both possible and realistic? Want to map out all the genes in a human?

The technique of distributed problem solving is something that will stay with us in this Digital Age. The copyright protections and encryption algorithms that were valid several years ago are no longer practically feasible. A new approach has to be taken to deal with the new capabilities that the normal user has. Devising this approach will require not only understanding but also a new paradigm.

I feel that distributing digital content is possible in a commercial setting, however the copyright mechanisms have to keep changing. Simply passing a law will not work.

Normally I would rant some more and give more in depth examples, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Feel free to write me with your thoughts. I'd love to get some quotes from some readers in my next write-up.

- SiLeRePrAeSes

1.) Are you a hacker? - JesterS

2.)X-Mail - JesterS

3.)Getting Under the GUI - Liquid Sphear

4.)Opening Simple Ports on Win X - madirish

5.)Commentary on Napster and the Digital Age -
SiLeRePrAeSes

6.)Commentary on the Political Aspects of the Internet
-
SiLeRePrAeSes

7.)How to (re)build your kernel
- L33tdawg

8.)A 101 Bytez team article for Hackinthebox mag

- OZONE

9.)Examining PE Files - abrams!metaray