The Challenges of Stopping Illegal Peer-to-peer File Sharing

Illegal file sharing within peer-to-peer networks has become a significant threat to the film and recording industries. Furthermore, such peer-to-peer protocols often use a significantly large amount of bandwidth relative to other protocols, complicating network management. In the past, copyright enforcement agencies have been hired to investigate users who appear to be sharing files illegally. In addition, broadband Internet service providers (ISPs) have actively throttled peer-to-peer traffic in an effort to reduce load on their networks. We observe that an “arms race” has begun between file traders and copyright holders/ISPs in which the file traders have started to develop techniques for hiding their involvement in the transfer of copyrightprotected media files. In response, the copyright holders’/ISPs’ investigative tactics are evolving to match the changing strategies. In this paper, we provide a survey of the current tactics used by file traders to hide their involvement in illegal file transfers and speculate about future strategies that may emerge on both sides of the arms race.