who's hash is that? - P2P-Zone

multi · 11-06-03, 05:30 PM

In a sign that file-sharing communities may start to turn on one another, Altnet said Thursday that rival networks may be violating its patent for digital tags, and it plans to bring to them in line.

In a first step, the Brilliant Digital Entertainment subsidiary Altnet on Thursday licensed its TrueNames patent to its biggest partner, Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa Media Desktop. Kazaa is one of the most popular file-sharing communities on the Net.

Altnet acquired rights to a 1999 patent that the company says covers the technique of identifying files on peer-to-peer networks using a "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file. The company plans to approach virtually all other peer-to-peer services to seek license rights.

"Altnet is very focused on the infringement of the TrueNames patent and we believe that many of today's active peer-to-peer applications may be in direct violation," Altnet CEO Kevin Bermeister said in a statement.

"We're very focused on preserving the integrity of the patent and realizing the potential it offers peer-to-peer applications and content owners."

But the scope and enforceability of patents are notoriously difficult to evaluate barring actual court rulings on their validity.

Nevertheless, there is a growing sentiment in technology circles that many patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are most likely seriously flawed. Among other things, the agency has granted patents for side-to-side swinging on a swing set and for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without a crust.

Technology patents have drawn some of the harshest criticisms and have been at the heart of some of the most closely watched patent battles in years, especially so-called business method patents such as Amazon.com's one-click checkout system. Last year, the online retail giant settled claims against Barnes & Noble involving the patent.

Patent number 5,978,791, which Altnet licensed Thursday, has been litigated at least once before, when content delivery services provider Digital Island used it in a dispute with rival Akamai. A jury rejected Digital Island's claims in December 2001, according to a statement published on Akamai's Web site.

Earlier this month, Kazaa and Altnet jointly released a bundle of file-swapping software that includes components of a new high-security peer-to-peer network and a program that will pay users to be a part of it. The network essentially harnesses the computing resources of the tens of millions of Kazaa users to distribute authorized files such as games, songs and movies.

The companies believe that by giving people an incentive to host and trade paid files it could create a powerful medium for distributing authorized content and could diminish file-trading networks' role as hubs of online piracy.

But as Altnet launches its ambitious new service, parent Brilliant Digital faces financial troubles. In a federal securities document filed in late May, the company said it had "negative working capital of approximately $4,165" and that there were substantial doubts about its survival. However, the filing said Brilliant Digital expects another round of financing to boost operations soon. The company aims to augment earnings by licensing its patent.
from

that maybe only a part of it...
to the best of my knowledge
that "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file uses this ...
wich is GPL
can anyone clear me up on this....?

MD5 was developed by Professor
Ronald L. Rivest of MIT. What it does, to quote the executive summary of rfc1321, is:

[The MD5 algorithm] takes as input a message of arbitrary length and produces as output a 128-bit "fingerprint" or "message digest" of the input. It is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce two messages having the same message digest, or to produce any message having a given prespecified target message digest. The MD5 algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a large file must be "compressed" in a secure manner before being encrypted with a private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem such as RSA.

In essence, MD5 is a way to verify data integrity, and is much more reliable than checksum and many other commonly used methods.

why not patent checksum and CRC while your at it....

they want to copywrite the mechanisims that allows peeps to get varified files...how sus is that?

pod · 13-06-03, 01:26 AM

Yeah, because no one's ever thought of identifying files using a hash or a diagest before. Utilities like Tripwire have been doing it for over a decade. Add 'on the Internet' to a random patent, and you've got a whole new invention!

Too bad there's no patent info given. Wouldn't it have to specify the method used to generate the hash?

11-06-03, 05:30 PM	#1
multi Thanks for being with arse Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The other side of the world Posts: 10,343	who's hash is that? In a sign that file-sharing communities may start to turn on one another, Altnet said Thursday that rival networks may be violating its patent for digital tags, and it plans to bring to them in line. In a first step, the Brilliant Digital Entertainment subsidiary Altnet on Thursday licensed its TrueNames patent to its biggest partner, Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa Media Desktop. Kazaa is one of the most popular file-sharing communities on the Net. Altnet acquired rights to a 1999 patent that the company says covers the technique of identifying files on peer-to-peer networks using a "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file. The company plans to approach virtually all other peer-to-peer services to seek license rights. "Altnet is very focused on the infringement of the TrueNames patent and we believe that many of today's active peer-to-peer applications may be in direct violation," Altnet CEO Kevin Bermeister said in a statement. "We're very focused on preserving the integrity of the patent and realizing the potential it offers peer-to-peer applications and content owners." But the scope and enforceability of patents are notoriously difficult to evaluate barring actual court rulings on their validity. Nevertheless, there is a growing sentiment in technology circles that many patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are most likely seriously flawed. Among other things, the agency has granted patents for side-to-side swinging on a swing set and for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without a crust. Technology patents have drawn some of the harshest criticisms and have been at the heart of some of the most closely watched patent battles in years, especially so-called business method patents such as Amazon.com's one-click checkout system. Last year, the online retail giant settled claims against Barnes & Noble involving the patent. Patent number 5,978,791, which Altnet licensed Thursday, has been litigated at least once before, when content delivery services provider Digital Island used it in a dispute with rival Akamai. A jury rejected Digital Island's claims in December 2001, according to a statement published on Akamai's Web site. Earlier this month, Kazaa and Altnet jointly released a bundle of file-swapping software that includes components of a new high-security peer-to-peer network and a program that will pay users to be a part of it. The network essentially harnesses the computing resources of the tens of millions of Kazaa users to distribute authorized files such as games, songs and movies. The companies believe that by giving people an incentive to host and trade paid files it could create a powerful medium for distributing authorized content and could diminish file-trading networks' role as hubs of online piracy. But as Altnet launches its ambitious new service, parent Brilliant Digital faces financial troubles. In a federal securities document filed in late May, the company said it had "negative working capital of approximately $4,165" and that there were substantial doubts about its survival. However, the filing said Brilliant Digital expects another round of financing to boost operations soon. The company aims to augment earnings by licensing its patent. from that maybe only a part of it... to the best of my knowledge that "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file uses this ... wich is GPL can anyone clear me up on this....? MD5 was developed by Professor Ronald L. Rivest of MIT. What it does, to quote the executive summary of rfc1321, is: [The MD5 algorithm] takes as input a message of arbitrary length and produces as output a 128-bit "fingerprint" or "message digest" of the input. It is conjectured that it is computationally infeasible to produce two messages having the same message digest, or to produce any message having a given prespecified target message digest. The MD5 algorithm is intended for digital signature applications, where a large file must be "compressed" in a secure manner before being encrypted with a private (secret) key under a public-key cryptosystem such as RSA. In essence, MD5 is a way to verify data integrity, and is much more reliable than checksum and many other commonly used methods. why not patent checksum and CRC while your at it.... they want to copywrite the mechanisims that allows peeps to get varified files...how sus is that? __________________ i beat the internet - the end boss is hard Secret Temple of It

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13-06-03, 01:26 AM	#2
pod Bumbling idiot Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Vancouver, CA Posts: 787	Yeah, because no one's ever thought of identifying files using a hash or a diagest before. Utilities like Tripwire have been doing it for over a decade. Add 'on the Internet' to a random patent, and you've got a whole new invention! Too bad there's no patent info given. Wouldn't it have to specify the method used to generate the hash?