FirstSource

[Guest tensegg]

Uploaders to eDonkey.com, Bit Torrent and other file-sharing networks beware: The commercial equivalent to Big Brother is watching you.

BayTSP, a leading provider of online intellectual property monitoring and compliance systems, last month began offering a service aimed at software, movie and music pirates. FirstSource is an automated system that identifies the first users to upload copyright- or trademark-protected content to major peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.

The service gives owners of intellectual property a way to identify the first individuals who upload illegal content. It also allows companies to track all subsequent users who download and share a particular file.

Evidence for Court

With this information in hand, intellectual property owners can produce evidence in court to substantiate piracy charges.

"Pirated copies of movies and software typically appear online within hours of release," Mark Ishikawa, CEO of BayTSP, said. "Identifying and taking action against the first uploaders can greatly slow the distribution of illegally obtained intellectual property and might make users think twice before doing it."

The FirstSource concept was tested successfully in BayTSP's computer labs. "We've been working with this system in-house since the summer," Ishikawa told TechNewsWorld.

He said the system is based on a unique search ePilot Search Engine Advertising - Click here to add your site today. protocol, but declined to provide specifics. He added that the process is similar to conducting an Internet search with Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latest News about Google.

Ishikawa said the concept has proved successful in trials conducted since the last quarter of 2004.

"We don't have to touch the file first. We identify the first person to make it available," Ishikawa said.

Initial tests of the FirstSource service indicate that several thousand copies of a movie available for download on the eDonkey.com and Bit Torrent networks can be traced back to the initial uploaded file.

Ishikawa said the FirstSource service is already in use for some of BayTSP's clients for gathering evidence to be used in pending litigation. 

source - technewsworld

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I was sure they could do this anyway, but now they can for sure :unsure: