Club CDFreaks - Knowledge is Power - View Single Post - Whats the safest way to use P2P programs?

**Seán** · 01-11-2005

Welcome to the forum

Even if you were to use file sharing software strictly for legitimate downloading, you will need to be very careful in how you go about setting up the software as well as using it. There are a few common mistakes people do with P2P software that puts them at risk, even if they never download a single piece of copyrighted material.

These are just a few steps to take to avoid accidentally sharing out copyrighted or other unwanted material:

When installing your file sharing software, do not allow it to scan your hard disk for media to share. If you do this, it may end up sharing out every single song, video, picture, etc. it locates, regardless of whether it is copyrighted. This is a very important, especially if you have ripped your CD collection on to your PC.
Once you have set up the software, configure it to use a new folder as your shared folder. It may be worth putting some freeware items in the shared folder to make it look like your are not a ‘free loader’, e.g. the latest copy of Winamp, OpenOffice, music made freely available by the author, etc. depending on your uplink bandwidth.
If the file sharing software offers the ability to disable the browsing of your shared files, make sure is checked. While this does not prevent your file sharing software from sharing out files, at least it prevents nosy people from remotely checking what you have shared out.
Periodically check the list of items your P2P application is sharing. Most P2P clients can view a list of shared items and this way you can make sure that you are not sharing out content that should not be shared out.
If you download something that you are not fully sure is free of copyright protection, immediately move it out of your shared folder once the download has complete. By default, file sharing software automatically shares any downloaded content, so just be warned. Some file sharing software such as eMule and BitTorrent clients even share out partially downloaded files.

Probably the most common tip I hear people say on how to be safe on P2P networks is to not download copyrighted material at all. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, even if all a user uses P2P for is to download freeware and shareware software, music freely made available by their authors and so on, they are still at a serious risk if they accidentally let the application share out their PC’s music collection or other copyrighted material without realising it!

Anyway, as the topic about legallity of P2P programs is brought up quite a lot, I would recommend browsing about this forum as well as past news articles. Pop 'sharing' as a keyword in to the CDFreaks main page search field and you'll find plenty of news articles worth reading, including past lawsuits, warnings, plans and so on.

01-11-2005	#2 (permalink)
Seán News Coordinator, Reviewer & Senior Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Republic of Ireland (North West) Posts: 2,645	Re: Whats the safest way to use P2P programs? Welcome to the forum Even if you were to use file sharing software strictly for legitimate downloading, you will need to be very careful in how you go about setting up the software as well as using it. There are a few common mistakes people do with P2P software that puts them at risk, even if they never download a single piece of copyrighted material. These are just a few steps to take to avoid accidentally sharing out copyrighted or other unwanted material: When installing your file sharing software, do not allow it to scan your hard disk for media to share. If you do this, it may end up sharing out every single song, video, picture, etc. it locates, regardless of whether it is copyrighted. This is a very important, especially if you have ripped your CD collection on to your PC. Once you have set up the software, configure it to use a new folder as your shared folder. It may be worth putting some freeware items in the shared folder to make it look like your are not a ‘free loader’, e.g. the latest copy of Winamp, OpenOffice, music made freely available by the author, etc. depending on your uplink bandwidth. If the file sharing software offers the ability to disable the browsing of your shared files, make sure is checked. While this does not prevent your file sharing software from sharing out files, at least it prevents nosy people from remotely checking what you have shared out. Periodically check the list of items your P2P application is sharing. Most P2P clients can view a list of shared items and this way you can make sure that you are not sharing out content that should not be shared out. If you download something that you are not fully sure is free of copyright protection, immediately move it out of your shared folder once the download has complete. By default, file sharing software automatically shares any downloaded content, so just be warned. Some file sharing software such as eMule and BitTorrent clients even share out partially downloaded files. Probably the most common tip I hear people say on how to be safe on P2P networks is to not download copyrighted material at all. Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, even if all a user uses P2P for is to download freeware and shareware software, music freely made available by their authors and so on, they are still at a serious risk if they accidentally let the application share out their PC’s music collection or other copyrighted material without realising it! Anyway, as the topic about legallity of P2P programs is brought up quite a lot, I would recommend browsing about this forum as well as past news articles. Pop 'sharing' as a keyword in to the CDFreaks main page search field and you'll find plenty of news articles worth reading, including past lawsuits, warnings, plans and so on.