Music activist website Downhill Battle are developing their own ‘RIAA-proof’ P2P file sharing client. The ad free Open Source app is based on the multi protocol instant messenger client Gaim and plugs into instant messengers like AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, or Jabber.

DB say on the projects homepage that, ” Making a program that only geeks can use won’t cut it. The goal, after all, is to keep people out of jail. What’s great about integrating filesharing into an IM client is that the interface will be familiar and non-threatening to everyone. And the interface itself explains the security advantages of the program in simple terms: you share with friends. ”

They go onto explain: “We propose an extension to the GAIM chat client that lets users do Gnutella style search & download filesharing, where search requests propagate out to trusted buddies, buddies of buddies, etc. This approach has several advantages. First, people will be more altruistic sharing with friends and won’t be as worried about RIAA/MPAA lawsuits. At the same time, because they can share with friends-of-friends, and friends-of-friends-of-friends, they’ll often be searching a very huge library. This software will be just as simple as an IM client, and it will be easy for people to invite friends (so it spreads virally).”

The software is still in development. Downhill Battle sees P2P/IM-integration with Gaim as a way to stop US P2P file sharers from landing in prison. Proposed legislation is looming in Congress in the US. ( the Intellectual Property Protection Act ) that could see major file sharers jailed if passed.

Gaim is a multi-protocol instant messaging (IM) client for Linux, BSD, MacOS X, and Windows. It is compatible with AIM and ICQ , MSN Messenger, Yahoo!, IRC, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, SILC, GroupWise Messenger, and Zephyr networks.

Gaim users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously. This means that you can be chatting with friends on AOL Instant Messenger, talking to a friend on Yahoo Messenger, and sitting in an IRC channel all at the same time.

In the light of thousands of lawsuits by music industry watchdogs like the RIAA, file sharers are leaving high profile (and usually spyware laden) file sharing clients like KaZaa in their millions and looking at more ‘secure’ and trusted underground software networks like Mute, Ants and Waste which offer more secure, anonymous protocols.

Related Links

Downhill Battle Labs [DownhillBattle.org]
Downhillbattle.org Bounty For P2P Gaim Plug-in [Slashdot.org]
Block RIAA File Share Jail Plans [P2PNet.net]
Ants P2P A New Approach To File Sharing [Slyck.com]
Trusted Computing, Peer-To-Peer Distribution,and the Economics of Pirated Entertainment [Harvard.edu] 11pg PDF
Jail File Sharers Bill Passed [P2PNet]
Congress Moves To Criminalize P2P [Wired.com]
Instant Messenging Planet [InstantMessengingPlanet.com]
Instant Messenger [Wikipedia.org]

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