Buzzsonic.com

Wirehog, a new breed of file-sharing program spawned by the creators of Thefacebook, made its official debut this week. The program, which is integrated with the popular social networking website for more than 250 colleges and universities in the USA, facilitates the transfer of files between digital ‘friends’ who can share anything from documents and photos to music and movies.

Unlike popular file-sharing programs such as Kazaa and Morpheus,whose users have been the targets of recent lawsuits and which allow users to search and download among a worldwide network of computers, Wirehog only facilitates downloading between two acquaintances in a fashion more akin to the file-transfer feature on instant messaging programs. Users connect directly to their friends’ computers and can only access files already designated for sharing.

The RIAA and MPAA pursue illegal file sharers by connecting to peer-to-peer networks and searching for specific movie or music files owned by their members. Once a user is found sharing such illegal files, the RIAA or MPAA download the offending file, make a note of the user’s Internet Protocol address and choose whether or not to pursue a lawsuit against the individual.

Jarad Carleton, an IT Industry Analyst with Frost & Sullivan in Palo Alto, California, likened Wirehog to Aimster, a P2P application that piggybacked on AOL’s instant messaging software. “The theory was that you could more safely trade copyrighted material if you were only trading within a trusted community of friends that you choose to include in your contact list,” he told TechNewsWorld.

But if Wirehog takes off like thefacebook.com, which reached the half-million user mark last month after less than nine months online, it could attract the attention of anti-piracy groups which have lobbied and waged legal battles against programs which ‘encourage’ file-sharing.

Chad Tilbury, the director of worldwide Internet enforcement at the Motion Picture Association of America, said a program like Wirehog could run a afoul of copyright laws. “Certainly, we dont really want to group something like this with these mass engines of piracy like Kazaa and others”, Tilbury said. But he said no file-sharing program would necessarily be immune from litigation.

The Beta test of Wirehog is currently only open to Facebook users from Harvard and Stanford. With more expected to be added soon.

Related Reading

Wirehog P2P Melds Social Networks and File-Sharing [TechNewsWorld.com]
Facebook to Feature File Sharing Device [the Dartmouth Online]
Next-Generation File Sharing with Social Networks [OpenP2P.com]
Facebook Creator to Debut Wirehog [the Harvard Crimson]
New P2P Software Could End Illegal Music Squabbles [the Register]
Grouper Beta Review [PCMag.com]
File Sharing Goes Social [Shirky.com]
P2P Routing with Social Networks [Stanford.edu] 19pg pdf