p2p file sharing ‘risky’ says FTC
p2pnet news | security:- Use of p2p file-sharing technology can be risky, Mary Engle, associate director of the Federal Trade Commission’s division of advertising practices, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, yesterday.
“Although P2P technology confers significant benefits, such as allowing for faster file transfers, conserving bandwidth and storage requirements, and saving on maintenance and energy costs, it also has been associated with risks to consumers,” she declared in testimony which discussed FTC efforts to address risks to consumers.
P2P file sharing, “may expose consumers to spyware or adware that may come bundled with file-sharing programs,” she said. “Consumers also may inadvertently share their own personal or sensitive files with others. In addition, consumers who share files may expose themselves to civil or criminal lawsuits by organizations enforcing copyright infringement and pornography laws.”
Also, “because of the way files are labeled, consumers, including children, may be exposed to unwanted pornographic images,” said Engle.
She didn’t mention that many, if not most, of the formerly independent commercial P2P applications are now run by corporate music cartel interests or, like Sharman Networks’ Kazaa, are closely associated with them.
Kazaa is currently the defendant in a class action which among other things alleges it was purpose-designed to secretly install spyware; that it was “nearly impossible to fully eradicate from a user’s computer” and that consequently, “an individual’s shared folder would remain accessible to the KaZaA Network after the KaZaA software had been removed from the individual’s computer”.
The FTC told the committee it’s, “worked to address the risks to consumers presented by P2P file-sharing software programs through a combination of working with industry to improve the disclosure of risk information on P2P file-sharing sites, consumer education, and targeted law enforcement.
“The testimony notes that the FTC staff review of risk disclosures on the most popular P2P file-sharing sites showed substantial improvement since 2004,” it says, going on:
In addition to protecting consumers by promoting disclosures, the FTC has taken law enforcement actions targeting particularly egregious actions by certain P2P file-sharing operations. Finally, the agency has taken steps to educate consumers and businesses about the potential risks associated with P2P programs and to provide guidance so that they are better able to protect themselves.
The FTC testimony failed to note entertainment industry statements routinely mischaracterise P2P applications and file sharing as inherently dangerous, and don’t say critical information leaked from banks, trusts, financial services, security software companies, laptops stolen or forgotten, hack attacks, poorly written code, and other causes, are far more evident, and far more hazardous.
Nor does it touch on the fact visiting sites which gather personal data through cookies and other means exposes consumers to risks on a daily basis.
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