P2P Programs 

 

The prevelence of peer to peer programs such as Kazaa, Napster, Blubster, Limewire, etc. has grown vastly over the past few years, with college students making up the bulk of P2P users.  Most college students install these programs without actually reading the license agreement or considering the consequences of such.  While most students should understand the ethical implications of illegally downloading copyrighted materials from the internet, most do not understand the other problems which P2P programs present.   The following article is an overview of why P2P programs are problematic on college networks, and why students would be wise to not install them.

The first problem with P2P applications is simple: bandwidth.  Bandwidth is basically how much "internet speed" is available to users on a network.  For example, the total bandwidth for Res-Net users at MC is 3.2MB, or two combined T1 lines.  Since bandwidth is a finite resource, it is the college IT department's responsibility to manage it wisely, and to ensure that plenty of speed is available for students doing research for class, which is the main purpose of the residential network.  P2P programs which have massive amounts of movies and music available for download are typically known as bandwidth "hogs".  In other words most users download multiple songs and movies at once, without ever thinking of the bandwidth they are using, and preventing others from using.  These movies and music files, which are typically anywhere from 5MB to 1GB in size take up massive amounts of bandwidth, and as few as 10 users all simultaneously downloading movies and music files at full speed can bring the Res-Net to its knees.  Thus, MC activley limits the bandwidth available to P2P programs, to ensure that the academic computing needs of students, which typically fall under traditional web site browsing, are met.

The second problem with most peer to peer programs is SPYWARE.  If you are unfamiliar with what spyware is, you may want to read this page, and make yourself aware of the dangers and consquences of spyware.  Most P2P programs automatically install multiple pieces of spyware when they are loaded.  Although most users would claim ignorance about the situation, they did click the "I Agree" button when installing the P2P program, usually without reading the terms of service.  When you install Kazaa Media Desktop, for example, you agree to the terms found here:  http://www.kazaa.com/us/terms.htm

Section 8 of this "agreement" allows Kazaa to display pop-up ads on your computer at will:
8.1 Sharman may provide links to or frame various third party web sites or frame within such sites through the Software or on kazaa.com, including co-branding and other relationships that offer e-commerce and other services and features to users

Section 9 of this "agreement" allows Kazaa to install 4 3rd party applications (spyware) on your PC at the time of Kazaa's install, and gives Kazaa the rights to install more software as it sees fit:
9.1 During the process of installing Kazaa Media Desktop, you must install software from third party software vendors pursuant to licences or other arrangements between such vendors and yourself ("Third Party Software"), including without limitation those software components noted in Section 9.4  These programs (all identified as spyware) include Cydoor, Bulldog, TopSearch and GAIN Adserver

What does this mean to you, the end user?  Slower PC & internet performance, privacy invasion, as well as headaches in trying to clean up the PC once spyware is installed.

Lastly, some P2P programs, including Kazaa, include a statement that students on the MC campus cannot legally agree to.  Section 4.3 of the Kazaa end user agreements states:
4.3 Installation. When you install the Software, the install program, e.g. kmd260_en.exe, is saved to your My Shared Folder and shared out to other users. You understand and agree that other users may download this file from your computer and by doing so your Internet connection will be used.

Since MC users have agreed to not host services or files locally on their PCs on the MC network, per student handbook policy, agreeing to the above statement alone puts you in violation of the Maryville College Network and Computer Use Policy.

Also, in section 4.5 of the end user agreement for Kazaa, you agree to let Kazaa use your bandwidth for other users, yet again violating MC policy, as only MC community members(Staff, Faculty, Students), may access and use MC network resources:
4.5 SuperNode. Your copy of the Software may serve as a SuperNode. The selection process is automated. When your computer is a SuperNode other peers will upload an index of files they are sharing to your computer and they will send search queries to your computer. Your computer will reply to these requests and also forward the request to other SuperNodes. . .  when you are a SuperNode your CPU and Internet connection is being used 

Peer to peer programs seem like a great technology to most uninformed PC users.  The benefits of free music, movies and software far outweigh the consequences in many user's minds.  However, users would be wise to understand fully the consequences of such actions, including violation of Federal Copyright Law, PCs loaded down with spyware, and loss of bandwidth for regular internet usage.