Pirate to Pirate


Early April of 2005, a new software package comes out based on the open-sourced Shareaza code. The new package is called "Pirate to Pirate" and it costs $5 USD. The service links to edonkey, bittorrent, gnutella, and Kazaa servers. It intercepts, compresses, and encrypts all packets going from one of its users to the other, and keeps no logs of any transference. Pte2Pte openly touts it's usefulness for anonymously transmitting movies, TV, music, and ebooks.

Pte2Pte is quickly recognized on Boing Boing, Slashdot, the Register, and even the Drudge Report. The RIAA makes statements about how dangerous this type of software is, and how it is obviously in violation of sections of the Patriot Act, the Induce act, and other legislation made to combat precisely this sort of thing. However, as the third comment on the Slashdot story points out, Pte2Pte is being distributed and hosted by a Cuban company.

"This is no longer a question of legitimate software being misused. This is software made to pirate copywritten material. These unconscionable acts will not go unanswered. "
- U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor

May of 2005, Hillary Duff and her sister begin a worldwide tour to celebrate their new hit CD "What have you got for me?" The RIAA celebrates another season of increased sales, and sends out another press release showing how much money was lost to piracy in the last quarter.

By June of 2005, a hundred thousand people have signed up for Pte2Pte (about a twentieth of the Kazaa population). The RIAA has navigated the difficult legal waters, and sends a Cease & Desist to the company responsible for maintaining the Pte2Pte login servers, a company called Computadores de Seguridad. For one month they receive no response.

By August, the Pte2Pte software has become a hotbutton topic on Capital Hill. How do we handle foreign companies breaking US law on the Internet? No one wants to bring up the specter of Chinese Censorship, but the lawmakers are being heavily pressed by powerful RIAA PACs. At one point, Senator Orrin Hatch points out that military force would be an easier solution to this problem than international legal maneuvering.

Then, in September, Pte2Pte disappears. It caves completely, giving up the $250,000 fine issued by the RIAA. The RIAA loudly trumpets the success of American might abroad.

Of course, by September, almost half of the Kazaa users have joined Pte2Pte, each paying their $5. Which means that Computadores de Seguridad pays the quarter of a million dollar fine out of the five million they had made in five months.

That means that half of the Kazaa population now feel a little bummed about losing their anonymous server, and start looking around for a replacement. Luckily, a new program from a German developer just came out, called "ArrrSoft" and it only costs $5 as well . . .


- posted by BrandG @ 11:22 AM