Hollywood is taking steps against Gnutella which, like Napster,
allows users to swap files stored on their hard drives with other
users. It has sent letters to ISPs and universities, warning them
that users are breaching copyright laws.
Gnutella differs from Napster in two important ways. First, it
allows users to swap any type of file, while Napster only lets
users swap MP3 music files. This has raised the concern of the
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) because movies can be
exchanged as files - albeit very large files. Second, Gnutella is
decentralised, meaning there is no central server that users access
to find what files they can download from other users. This means
that there is no server to shut down and nobody to sue but the
users themselves - or possibly ISPs.
The MPAA is said to have sent hundreds of letters to major ISPs
and universities, warning them that people on their networks are
breaching the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by trading
copyrighted movies through Gnutella. Excite@Home, one of the
largest ISPs in the US, has sent e-mails to a number of Gnutella
users, telling them their services will be terminated within 24
hours if their alleged movie sharing continues.
Under the DMCA, an ISP must take action when it has “actual
knowledge” of an infringement (by facts brought to its attention or
by notice from the copyright owner), but it does not impose a
burden on the ISP to monitor or discover infringing behaviour.
Excite@Home said that the MPAA provided it with evidence of the
infringements. However, while monitoring of file transmissions is
possible with the Gnutella system, a bigger threat to copyright
owners lies in Freenet. Freenet is free software similar to
Gnutella, but the identity of Freenet users and the files they
transfer are said to be impossible to identify. Accordingly, it may
be impossible for bodies like the MPAA to present any evidence to
ISPs that their users are in breach of copyright laws.
