May 4th, 2009
Limewire addresses Washington's concerns; gives P2P users new sharing tools
Limewire, in response to national security worries out of Washington, last week told a Congressional committee about features in a new version of its software that were designed to prevent accidental sharing of sensitive files. For the most part, the new features go a long way at addressing Washington’s concerns.
But the added bonus came in the details of the service and how that might have a greater impact on efforts to reduce digital piracy, the type that has kept Hollywood lawyers busy filing lawsuits against Average Joes and Janes.
Two years ago, Limewire found itself on Washington’s hot seat when Congressional leaders feared that peer-to-peer networks like Limewire might enable government employees to accidentally share classified documents. The company promised to address the security concerns. The issue recently resurfaced amid reports that the blueprints for Marine One, the President’s helicopter, as well as tax returns, student loan applications and credit reports, as well as other sensitive documents were discovered and available for download on peer-to-peer networks.
In a 9-page letter sent to the committee, which is posted on wired.com, Limewire CEO Mark Gorton explains in detail some of the changes being made, including specific file extensions - such as “.doc,” “.pdf” and “.rtf” - that will no longer be shared. But it also goes to great lengths to identify and stop the sharing - by changing the defaults and giving the user more control on how their files are managed by the software.
For example, when a user downloads something from the P2P network, it no longer goes into a “saved” folder where the items in there are also being “shared.” Instead, the user now has to place downloaded files into the shared folder for others to access over the network. Back when the recording industry was filing lawsuit after lawsuit, many people claimed that they didn’t realize they were sharing files with other people; they thought they were just downloading them. This eliminates that confusion.
Also, a new step in LimeWire’s set-up process allows users to choose which extensions - from “.mp3″ to “.mov” - will be shared. Extensions are categorized into “Audio”, “Video”, “Documents”, “Images”, “Programs” and “Other” and the user chooses which category or extension within a category - if any - to share.
The changes are pretty substantial and should go a long way at easing some concerns in Washington. The impact on digital piracy is just an added bonus.
Still, it’s also important to remember that Limewire is only one P2P network and that everyone - from downloaders to lawmakers - should be careful to not let their guard down too much.
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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