Stealth P2P network hides inside Kazaa - Tech News

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Stealth P2P network = hides inside=20 Kazaa

By John = Borland=20
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 1, 2002, 5:35 PM=20 PT

A=20 California company has quietly attached its software to millions = of=20 downloads of the popular Kazaa file-trading program and plans to = remotely=20 "turn on" people's PCs, welding them into a new network of its = own.=20

Brilliant Digital=20 Entertainment, a California-based digital advertising = technology=20 company, has been distributing its 3D ad technology along with the = Kazaa=20 software since late last fall. But in a federal securities filing = Monday, the=20 company revealed it also has been installing more ambitious = technology=20 that could turn every computer running Kazaa into a node in a new = network=20 controlled by Brilliant Digital.=20

The company plans to wake up the millions of computers that = have=20 installed its software in as soon as four weeks. It plans to use = the=20 machines--with their owners' permission--to host and distribute = other=20 companies' content, such as advertising or music. Alternatively, = it might=20 borrow people's unused processing power to help with other = companies'=20 complicated computing tasks.=20

Brilliant Digital CEO Kevin Bermeister says computers or = Internet=20 connections won't be used without their owners' permission. But = the=20 company will nevertheless have access to millions of computers at = once,=20 almost as easily as turning on a light switch.=20

"Everybody will get turned on in more or less a simultaneous = fashion,"=20 Bermeister said. "This will be an opt-in program...We're trying to = create=20 a secure network based on end-user relationships."=20

The Brilliant Digital plan is the most ambitious yet from a = string of=20 companies that have tried to make money off the millions of people = who are=20 downloading and using free file-swapping programs such as Kazaa,=20 MusicCity's Morpheus or LimeWire.=20

Nearly all of the file-swapping programs now routinely come = bundled=20 with so-called adware or spyware--programs that automatically pop = up=20 advertisements while people surf the Web or that keep track of = where=20 someone surfs, information that can then be sold to marketing = companies.=20 Despite growing concerns about this bundled software, usage and = downloads=20 of the file-swapping programs are at an all-time high.=20

But Brilliant's plan, by tapping into the computer resources of = the=20 file-swappers themselves, has fallen into a new realm where = start-ups such=20 as Kontiki and Red Swoosh are just = starting to gain=20 traction. Those companies are trying to use peer-to-peer = technology to=20 distribute content more quickly online, but they face a battle = convincing=20 people to install their software and become distribution points.=20

Brilliant, by contrast, already has potentially tens of = millions of=20 computers in its network, simply by piggybacking on top of Kazaa.=20

According to CNET Download.com, a popular software aggregation = site=20 owned by News.com publisher CNET Networks, the Kazaa software--and = by=20 extension the Brilliant software--was downloaded more than 2.6 = million=20 times last week alone. Brilliant has been distributing the core = technology=20 for its peer-to-peer service along with Kazaa since February, = Bermeister=20 said.=20

The Brilliant = network is based=20 on a piece of software called "Altnet Secureinstall," which is = bundled=20 with the Kazaa software. That technology can connect to other = peer-to-peer=20 networks, ad servers or file servers independently of the Kazaa = software=20 and can be automatically updated to add new features, according to = Brilliant's filing.=20

When the software is "turned on," computers running the = Brilliant=20 software will form a new peer-to-peer network separate from but = connected=20 to Kazaa, the filing said. A few computers with fast connections = will form=20 the early core of the network and be asked to join first. Other = ordinary=20 computers and Net connections will be invited later, Bermeister = said.=20

Brilliant's software will be able to understand and respond to = searches=20 inside Kazaa, since it is based on the same technology. But if it = is=20 successful, Brilliant will be able to host content and run = "distributed=20 computing" applications over the new network that is entirely = separate=20 from Kazaa or other file-swapping networks based on the same = technology.=20

Working behind the scenes
Brilliant and Bermeister = have=20 played a central=20 role in many of the events shaping the file-swapping world in = the past=20 few months.=20

Bermeister began distributing his company's 3D advertising = software=20 along with the Kazaa software last year. That's how he got to know = the=20 founders of Kazaa BV, the Dutch company that created the = file-swapping=20 technology originally used by Kazaa, Morpheus and Grokster.=20

When the Kazaa BV founders decided they didn't want to be in = the=20 network business, Bermeister introduced them to a former associate = in=20 Australia, Nicola Hemming. Her new company, Sharman Networks, = bought the=20 Kazaa software and continues to distribute it.=20

Bermeister is now drawing on his association with the Dutch = programmers=20 for his new venture. Brilliant has created a new company for the=20 peer-to-peer service, called Altnet. It has licensed the Dutch=20 programmers' technology from their new venture, called Blastoise.=20 According to Brilliant's annual report, filed Monday, the Dutch=20 programmers have taken a 49 percent stake in Altnet.=20

Brilliant has been subpoenaed in the record labels and big = movie=20 studios' copyright infringement lawsuit against Kazaa BV. No suit = has been=20 filed against Brilliant or Sharman Networks, however.=20

The immediate plans for Altnet, Brilliant and the new = peer-to-peer=20 network remain unclear.=20

Bermeister said the company had been testing the technology = along with=20 ad giants DoubleClick as a way to serve ordinary Web ads more = quickly.=20 Under this plan, an ad that a person sees on a Web site might be = hosted by=20 a nearby computer running Brilliant's Altnet instead of on a = central ad=20 server, as now typically happens with DoubleClick.=20

Brilliant's CEO was quick to note that people would be asked = before=20 their computers were used for this or other purposes. He said the = software=20 would show a pop-up box explaining the network's function and = giving=20 people a chance to turn it off. People who allow their computers = to be=20 used will be compensated somehow, possibly with gift certificates = or free=20 videos, the company's filing said.=20

However, people who accept "terms of service" already = distributed with=20 Brilliant's and Kazaa's software are already agreeing to let their = computers be used without any payment at all.=20

"You hereby grant (Brilliant) the right to access and use the = unused=20 computing power and storage space on your computer/s and/or = Internet=20 access or bandwidth for the aggregation of content and use in = distributed=20 computing," the terms of service read. "The user acknowledges and=20 authorizes this use without the right of compensation."=20

3D"How Anybody who declines this=20 provision is not able to install the Kazaa file-swapping software. = Brilliant's software can be disabled or removed after installation = without=20 affecting Kazaa's performance, however.=20

A representative for Sharman, which distributes the Kazaa = software,=20 could not be reached for comment.=20

Privacy-rights advocates contacted for comment expressed some = concern=20 about the way the Altnet software has been distributed and about = whether=20 the millions of people who already have it installed on their = computers=20 will be tech-savvy enough to know what they're agreeing to when = and if=20 Brilliant does ask to use their computers.=20

"A lot of the people most likely to use this software are = teenagers or=20 college students. There's a lack of sensitivity about privacy in = that age=20 group," said Larry Poneman, CEO of Privacy Council, which = helps=20 companies manage privacy issues. "Do they really want to be = commandeered=20 and have their machines do things that aren't necessarily in their = best=20 interest?"=20

E-mail = story=20 Print = story Send us news=20 tips

Related = News

Morpheus gives=20 Web surfers a detour March 19, 2002=20
Morpheus woes=20 lift rival from obscurity March 5, 2002=20
Morpheus looks=20 to Gnutella for help February 27, 2002=20
Get = this=20 story's "Big Picture"

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