Microsoft examines the Darknet

The "darknet," as described in the paper, is the copyright-violating underground so feared by the entertainment industry, along with the technological infrastructure which supports content sharing. Several techniques for shutting down (or making life more difficult for) the darknet are examined; the authors conclude that these techniques are likely to be ineffective.

For example, the paper points out that the weak points of most file sharing networks are global indexes and lack of anonymous sharing. A global index is an obvious target for an irate corporation and its lawyers, as Napster discovered. Traceable sharing can be used to track down (and prosecute) individuals who are sharing content. But these activities will only have the effects of (1) encouraging more distributed, difficult to trace networks, and (2) splitting trading networks into smaller, interlinked networks of people who know and trust each other. The long-term effect on file sharing volume is likely to be small.

Given that, one might look at ways to keep content from getting into the darknet in the first place. Digital rights management and copy protection systems, it is noted, have, almost without exception, been broken. Since only one system need be broken to allow the injection of unprotected content into the darknet, DRM systems are not seen as being effective in shutting down sharing. Watermarking schemes are, in general, easy to remove, and suffer from key management problems. Hardware which implements watermarking is also at a competitive disadvantage, unless such technology is mandated legally for all devices. "The recently proposed Hollings bill is a step along these lines." It would be interesting to imagine the entire journey, if the CBDTPA is just "a step."

The authors conclude by saying that, for all practical purposes, the darknet can not be stopped. Business models need to take this in mind.

(Emphasis in the original).

There is little here that has not been said before. The message seems to have been heard a little more widely this time, however, perhaps a a result of the authors' Microsoft affiliation. Whether the entertainment industry will hear the message remains to be seen, however; that industry still seems far more interested in controlling our computers and interactions than in providing convenience and low cost.