Five ways to share files on campus if your college blocks P2P
05/31 2007 | 12:47 PM
Posted by: Janko Roettgers
So your university has implemented a new, draconian P2P policy. The IT department now threatens to cut off your arm Internet connection if you even dare to share a single file through Bittorrent or Emule. Repeat offenders are threatened with expulsion. But that's not all: The guy who used to run the local DC++ hub just threw the towel after someone wrote about it on Facebook.
Of course there are many ways to obfuscate P2P usage. Bittorrent clients like Azureus offer protocol encryption, and secure P2P services like Waste may be able to stay under the radar completely.
Unfortunately, the keyword here is may. In most cases, you won't know what exactly your network admins are looking for. Heck, judging from some recent statements, they don't even know themselves. They could be looking at known ports, at protocol headers or even at unusual upload behaviour. So when it comes to swapping some files with your buddies you're pretty much screwed.
Or not. Granted, it's probably the best to stop using P2P software within the campus network for a while. But there are still lost of ways to share the love. Here are just five:
Free remote storage. There are tons of services out there that let you store files on a remote server for free. Some even offer built-in file sharing capabilities. AOL's Xdrive is giving away 5 Gigabytes at no cost.
A basic Box.net account just comes with one Gigabyte, but it features a neat Netvibes integration. Hard core users that need more space for their files may even consider using Amazons S3 service via the Firefox plug-in S3Fox. It's not free, but still pretty damn cheap.
Bittorrent. That's right: You don't have to stop using your favourite source for educational public domain downloads as long as you use it outside of the campus network. Just install µTorrent or Azureus on your home PC and access the machine from campus through the software's web interface.
Then proceed to download torrents like you used to. The only difference is that the files end up on the hard disk of your off-campus computer. Connect to it securely via Hamachi or another VPN solution and access your media anywhere.
Your own wireless P2P mesh network. Most notebooks come with build-in wireless networking nowadays. You can use it to gain accesss to the official campus Wifi network. Or you just connect directly to other users without using any access point and start swapping files. Wipeer helps Windows users to facilitate file sharing over ad-hoc Wifi networks with a search function, a buddy list and the possibility to play multi-player games.
Original Screenshot (CC): Dikiy.com
Ad-hoc networks aren't too secure though, so you might want to look into additional security measures. The next Wipeer version is also supposed to feature WPA and a separate file transfer encryption.
E-Mail. Free E-Mail providers nowadays offer Gigabytes of storage, so why not make use of it? Google now allows to send attachments of up to 20 Megabytes per E-Mail - enough to send and two or three decent-sized MP3s. Google even lets you play MP3 attachments right through their website.
You can also go the unofficial route and use unauthorized enhancements like Peer 2 Mail. Peer 2 Mail makes it possible to store files larger than 20 Megabytes, and it allows you to grant your friends secure, password-protected access to the data you want to share with them.
The good old Sneakernet. Now with bigger shoes: Offline file swapping has been going on for decades. Burning your friends some CDs or DVDs is still a great option to share data. But it's also somewhat wasteful. You know half of those disks are gonna end up as coasters at the next dorm party. So do your part to save some plastic trees by using USB media instead. Thumb drives are only a few dollars nowadays, and portable hard discs are oftentimes on sale for less than a dollar per Gigabyte.
Of course you can also use your iPod to swap files: Just download free tools like Ephpod (Windows) or Senuti (OS X) and browse your roommates music library to pick your favourite tunes.
These are just five ways to reclaim your legally protected fair use rights despite your IT department's law and order policies. Of course there are many more, and some may work even better on your campus. I'd love to hear what you guys are using.
Of course there are many ways to obfuscate P2P usage. Bittorrent clients like Azureus offer protocol encryption, and secure P2P services like Waste may be able to stay under the radar completely.
Unfortunately, the keyword here is may. In most cases, you won't know what exactly your network admins are looking for. Heck, judging from some recent statements, they don't even know themselves. They could be looking at known ports, at protocol headers or even at unusual upload behaviour. So when it comes to swapping some files with your buddies you're pretty much screwed.
Or not. Granted, it's probably the best to stop using P2P software within the campus network for a while. But there are still lost of ways to share the love. Here are just five:
Free remote storage. There are tons of services out there that let you store files on a remote server for free. Some even offer built-in file sharing capabilities. AOL's Xdrive is giving away 5 Gigabytes at no cost.
A basic Box.net account just comes with one Gigabyte, but it features a neat Netvibes integration. Hard core users that need more space for their files may even consider using Amazons S3 service via the Firefox plug-in S3Fox. It's not free, but still pretty damn cheap.
Bittorrent. That's right: You don't have to stop using your favourite source for educational public domain downloads as long as you use it outside of the campus network. Just install µTorrent or Azureus on your home PC and access the machine from campus through the software's web interface.
Then proceed to download torrents like you used to. The only difference is that the files end up on the hard disk of your off-campus computer. Connect to it securely via Hamachi or another VPN solution and access your media anywhere.
Your own wireless P2P mesh network. Most notebooks come with build-in wireless networking nowadays. You can use it to gain accesss to the official campus Wifi network. Or you just connect directly to other users without using any access point and start swapping files. Wipeer helps Windows users to facilitate file sharing over ad-hoc Wifi networks with a search function, a buddy list and the possibility to play multi-player games.
Original Screenshot (CC): Dikiy.com
Ad-hoc networks aren't too secure though, so you might want to look into additional security measures. The next Wipeer version is also supposed to feature WPA and a separate file transfer encryption.
E-Mail. Free E-Mail providers nowadays offer Gigabytes of storage, so why not make use of it? Google now allows to send attachments of up to 20 Megabytes per E-Mail - enough to send and two or three decent-sized MP3s. Google even lets you play MP3 attachments right through their website.
You can also go the unofficial route and use unauthorized enhancements like Peer 2 Mail. Peer 2 Mail makes it possible to store files larger than 20 Megabytes, and it allows you to grant your friends secure, password-protected access to the data you want to share with them.
The good old Sneakernet. Now with bigger shoes: Offline file swapping has been going on for decades. Burning your friends some CDs or DVDs is still a great option to share data. But it's also somewhat wasteful. You know half of those disks are gonna end up as coasters at the next dorm party. So do your part to save some plastic trees by using USB media instead. Thumb drives are only a few dollars nowadays, and portable hard discs are oftentimes on sale for less than a dollar per Gigabyte.
Of course you can also use your iPod to swap files: Just download free tools like Ephpod (Windows) or Senuti (OS X) and browse your roommates music library to pick your favourite tunes.
These are just five ways to reclaim your legally protected fair use rights despite your IT department's law and order policies. Of course there are many more, and some may work even better on your campus. I'd love to hear what you guys are using.
Tags: p2p, campus, university, xdrive, box.net, s3, utorrent, azureus, hamachi, wipeer, gmail, peer2mail, sneakernet, senuti, ephpod
Janko Roettgers wrote:
http://www.p2p-blog.com/ite...