A Revealing P2P App
What would you think of millions of people having the ability to download the pictures and videos on your smartphone, or copy documents from your tablet computer, without your even realizing it?
If that sounds like a problem, you might want to take a look at the FTC’s just-announced settlement with a peer-to-peer (or P2P) file-sharing software developer. The company, Frostwire, offers free P2P file-sharing applications for Android devices and desktop and laptop computers.
P2P software lets you download files from — and share files with — other people with the same software. That includes photos, videos, documents, and music.
In the case of Frostwire, the FTC alleges, its Android file-sharing software was likely to cause people to share personal files stored on their phones or tablets unintentionally.
The FrostWire for Android default settings — unlike those of popular desktop file-sharing applications — were set to automatically share photos, videos, and other files already stored on the device once a user clicked through the installation process. The default settings would also publicly share new files in “shared” categories. These could have included, for instance, personal documents users moved to a tablet, and new photos or videos taken with a smartphone.
The FTC also charged that people who installed some versions of the popular FrostWire desktop application on their desktops or laptops were misled into believing that files they downloaded from the P2P network wouldn’t be shared with other users of the network, when they were being shared.
P2P filing sharing generally comes with certain risks. People sometimes mistakenly download malware, or let strangers access their personal files. Files may be copyright protected and sharing them might make users liable for infringement. But developers need to give users the information and control they need to be able to act responsibly. There also are things you can do to minimize your risk when it comes to P2P sharing.
Comments
I read about the the revealing p2p App.
I wouldnt use it for the simple fact that all of your files and privrate photo's could be downloaded my millions of users across the globe.
Frostwire is the same thing as Napster when it first came out, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, there are some features that anyone would like, but then again I belive that the bennifits do not out-weigh the risk of your personal information, credit card info, social security numbers, etc.
My topic is on the revealing p2p app on your moble phone or Ipad etc. I would not put this application on my moble phone. The reason is because with p2p applications there are so many bugs,maleware,and viruses that your not aware of and can harm your pc. Not to mention that the Frostwire p2p software will share all privrate and personal informatin that is in your folders or on your hard drive. Thats just not worth it to me.
Well, it's a file sharing application duh, the purpose is to share files conveniently. If you use it it's because you want to share, and it was super easy to unshare all files, what wasn't easy back then was to unshare most files and leave some unshared.
I was a tester and the app ALWAYS showed the number of files being shared when you started it. If you didn't realize it it was because you were blind or were very computer unsaavy.
Plus it's not like you didn't have the chance to unshare, your screenshot shows the screen where you could uncheck the files when you first ran it.
I think it was unfair of the FTC to charge against a free beta app done by a team of volunteers, but the lesson remains for the rest of developers out there to be more explicit and neutral when it comes to default settings.
The Kindle Fire will be the true iPad killer. It has more CONTENT than Apple and Android combined! Steve Jobs wanted to nuke Android, but Amazon was nipping in the back tablet door whilst Jobs was fighting Android! Jobs will be turning in his grave...a third tablet rival rises :)
ashane
Another option is to download a free peer-to-peer program, such as Limewire. These peer-to-peer programs are basically file sharing programs where you download the files from other users. The upside is that they can be used for free, the downside is that often the files may be low quality. I've downloaded lots of songs where I've noticed the song wasn't what I downloaded. Another thing to be aware of when using peer-to-peer programs is viruses.
Hi, Downloads, It’s important to remember that there are serious risks when using P2P networks to download free files. The FTC has investigated popular P2P Networks, including LimeWire, and found that these applications can expose a user’s tax returns, credit reports, loan applications, and other sensitive documents to millions of people. Not only could users accidentally share files they didn’t intend to, they also could violate copyright laws. For more information about the risks, go to http://onguardonline.gov/articles/0016-p2p-file-sharing-risks.
I use limewire still, though the main page is down I got it check it out
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