Microsoft on Darknet

[Nomen Nescio]

Microsoft faces up to (and renames) BlackNet:

http://crypto.stanford.edu/DRM2002/darknet5.doc

The Darknet and the Future of Content Distribution


        Peter Biddle, Paul England, Marcus Peinado, and Bryan Willman


                          Microsoft Corporation[1]


                                  Abstract


           We investigate the darknet - a collection of networks and
           technologies used to share digital content.  The darknet is not
           a separate physical network but an application and protocol
           layer riding on existing networks.  Examples of darknets are
           peer-to-peer file sharing, CD and DVD copying, and key or
           password sharing on email and newsgroups.  The last few years
           have seen vast increases in the darknet's aggregate bandwidth,
           reliability, usability, size of shared library, and availability
           of search engines.  In this paper we categorize and analyze
           existing and future darknets, from both the technical and legal
           perspectives.  We speculate that there will be short-term
           impediments to the effectiveness of the darknet as a
           distribution mechanism, but ultimately the darknet-genie will
           not be put back into the bottle.  In view of this hypothesis, we
           examine the relevance of content protection and content
           distribution architectures.