Program Released To Remove/Block P2P

I wonder if they debated releasing it as a trojan ?

It actually looks pretty good, at least from having watched the online demo. Could give nervous parents peace of mind where P2P is heavily under attack.

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A free program released Thursday, called Digital File Check, will uninstall or disable file-sharing programs on people's computers. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an affiliate of the Recording Industry Association of America in London, helped develop the software along with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

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Quote:

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"Digital File Check is easy to use and can help people prevent their employees, children and others from illegally downloading and swapping movies," Dan Glickman, president of the MPAA, said in a statement.

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http://news.com.com/Record+labels+to...6687&subj=news

. o O (Wonders when it becomes part of the standard Windows installation...)

This app is a piece of crap..
I'd even start a new catagory for it .. FUD ware !

Here a screenshot of the app in action..
http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven...cansloper.html
See the illegal files ??
Nope.. me neither..
But your mom/so/boss might.. and you'll have to reinstall your LEGAL software..

This app does nothing more then scan for a couple of file types..
In no part does it check for legality or even assumption of legality !!
In worse cases it might remove some stuff you actualy created yourselve.. and don't have backed up !!

[edit]This version checks for a number of P2P apps in different versions..[/edit]
It doesn't discriminate legal multimedia and archive files from illegal ones..


This app is about as usefull for the task as a hammer for driving in screws..
It might work.. But it will damage !

I didn't try it, and I don't have time to at the moment, but from the demonstation and documentation it is pretty clear that it detects and blocks p2p programs, which would be its strength if used regularly . . .

As for scanning for files, it can't know what is legit and what is pirated except by sniffing out certain file types, particulalry in shared folders, and letting the user decide. There appear to be the usual notifications before anything is deleted.

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(Wonders when it becomes part of the standard Windows installation...)

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It already is, it is called Windows Explorer and Control Panel :D All it does is find music, video and image files and file sharing applications.

It has no idea whether they are legitimate or not, it lets you decide what you want to do. This functionality is already within windows. It does provide a small degree of specialist functionality in finding file sharing packages, but uses THEIR uninstaller :rolleyes:

I sense a rod for their own backs here? If, as a parent, I install this software and run it every once in a while I have shown due diligence? the law says that I cannot beat the crap out of my kids, and they need a computer for their education..........................

That would stop anyone going after you under UK law at least because file sharing and breach of copyright are NOT criminal offences and juveniles cannot be sued?

Could get interesting?

:D

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Originally posted here by nihil
It does provide a small degree of specialist functionality in finding file sharing packages, but uses THEIR uninstaller :rolleyes:

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It also blocks the re-installation of deleted programs (runs in the background with password protected shut down) and is updated regularly with new p2p program signatures. Most importantly, it brings everything together into one spot.

All in all, it looks like a useful tool for a non-techie parent with children not techie enough to find the cracks that will be available in a short time . . .

You raise a good point, though, Nihil -- is this enough to stop a prosecution in the US ? Obviously the people who put it out don't mention it, but a judge just might see it as taking reasonable measures. Only time will tell.

Related stories :

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jh...toryID=9721966
Winmx and eDonkey close

http://www.internetnews.com/xSP/article.php/3550836
P2P, Colleges and Internet2

Ok.. gave this baby a spin..
After reading the Licence (which is quite short and clear in comparison to that of most P2P apps), installed it..

It found a lot of stuff on this box... I'll share some highlites..
It did find abc.exe, btdownloadgui.exe and emule.exe and classify them as P2P apps.
It didn't detect my (weird location of) eMule shared folder, so there were no hits in the 'files in shared folders' part..


False positives:
freenet.exe (it says it's a filesharing app, which it is not)
%systemroot%\system32\oobe\images\title.wma (the windows welcome tune, I for one can live without that ;))

I won't complain about all the legal music and video's it found..
I will however complain about the Images part.
Highlites include:
All images in Program files\Adobe\Acrobat(version)\Howto (won't hurt when deleted)
All images in Program files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared (office clipart etc)
All images in Program files\Java\jre(version)\lib\images (does java work without these??)
All images in Program files\Microsoft Office (might break Office, didn't try though)
All images in Program files\Microsoft Visual Studio (same issue)
All images in Program files\Mozilla Firefox (breaks FF for sure !!)
All images in Program files\Open Office (breaks OO thing)
All images in Program files\Winamp (breaks winamp (or atleast the skin(s)))
All images in %systemroot%\system32\oobe (there goes the the rest of the windows tour)
All images in %systemroot%\Help (there goes the windows help)
All images in %systemroot%\pchealth\helpctr (there goes the rest of windows help)
All images in %systemroot%\DirectX\Dinput (loads of png's here (what do they do?))
And all the wallpapers in %systemroot% and %systemroot%\Web\Wallpaper

You can't say that most of these were not preventable !!!

False negatives:
fuquid.exe (this is a filesharing app which uses freenet and wasn't found)

No searches for .iso .rar .ace, which are afaik the most popular ways to transmit full movies, albums etc..