A new software was recently developed to track illegal online file-sharing activities, according to a report published by TechnologyReview.com.
Air Force Institute of Technology computer engineering expert Major Karl Schrader said the new software can detect pirated media contents including music, movies, software applications, and games, adding that the anti-bittorrent program can also track online contents which promote child pornography.
The chief engineer also said that the newly developed application does not alter anything from the transferred files which used BitTorrent protocol since it can detect any data containing p2p code. The identified data will then be checked if it would match the lists of prohibited media contents before classifying it as pirated materials, he added.
Schrader also said that one major advantage of the new software is that it tracks down illegal file sharing activities without interrupting the flow of the data transferred unlike those use by some Internet service providers (ISP).
Recently, some major ISP companies including Comcast and Cox Communications have been accused by BitTorrent sites of “throttling” the peer-to-peer (p2p) protocol. Meanwhile, the two Internet providers deny the allegations, saying they will not delay their service since their goal is to provide the fastest and the best service to their clients.
Meanwhile, some security experts raise a major concern since the new application can be used in illicit activities which can disrupt the privacy of Internet users. Another concern is the software’s inability to read encrypted files which is a major problem because one-quarter of BitTorrent traffic use data encryption.
Music industry has long been waging battle against BitTorrent sites which are accused by record companies of sharing copyrighted materials to people, saying that these resulted to millions of loss revenue every year