Re: BitTorrent & eDonkey/Overnet

[Daniel Adinolfi <dra1 () CORNELL EDU>]

On Feb 12, 2004, at 09:50, Michael G Carr wrote:
> Would anyone who has seen (and dealt with or managed to track or
> curtail) BitTorrent and/or eDonkey/Overnet use care to share your
> experience and "best practices"?

Greetings,

Cornell is not blocking P2P as a whole (though we try to limit its
effect on other applications via our packet shaper), though certain
departments have requested assistance in blocking certain P2P
applications just for their subnets.  Because of the configurable
nature of the P2P software (easily changing the tcp/udp ports on which
is runs or the use of port 80/25/etc), network ACLs are not 100%
effective.  In one department, though, we blocked the BitTorrent with a
Cisco router ACL and found great success in curtailing the use of
BitTorrent.  (Let me know if you'd like to see the ACL.)  We have also
suggested more stringent controls over who can install what
applications on University-owned systems.  (Should an administrative
aid in the Bursars Office be able to install KaZaA, for example.)

As has been said here, P2P is not illegal and definitely useful for
more than just downloading or distributing copyrighted work.  For
Cornell, limiting its use on a department-by-department or
subnet-by-subnet basis, where the requirements of the users and the
workflow used by those users can be more easily defined, is a better
solution than restricting it wholesale.

-Dan
_________________
Daniel Adinolfi, CISSP
Senior Security Engineer, IT Security Office
Cornell University - Office of Information Technologies
email: dra1 () cornell edu   phone: 607-255-7657

**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Discussion Group discussion list can be found at 
http://www.educause.edu/cg/.