Re: Possible to do torrents through firewalls and via a proxy?

[Patrick Benson <benson () chello se>]

Paul Melson wrote:

> BitTorrent, while it clearly has some legitimate software distribution
> capabilities, has some additional risks that you should consider before
> allowing it through the firewall.  I would think this through very
> carefully.

Allowing tcp ports 25, 80, 110 are far more risky than torrent ports if
you know what I mean... The damage to entire networks, globally, doesn't
even come close.

> First, it's P2P file transfer software, and is very popular amongst those
> that the MPAA, RIAA, and others would seek to prosecute.
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=bittorrent+piracy  This may not be
> a liability that your organization is willing to accept.

Which reminds one of the 80's..... Universal vs. Sony
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/betamaxcase/betamaxcase.htm

If large corporations would try to stop being so old-fashioned and
complacent and realize a new paradigm is on the way, internationally and
globally, they wouldn't have to be so defensive as soon as new
technologies appear which seem to "harm" their businesses, in their
eyes. When the Supreme Court reversed their decision in the case
mentioned above it was already too late. It's going to be the same with
computer technology as well. You just can't label everything with
patents and copyright and expect them to be enforced if moral values
among the people do not align alongside. Bittorrent is the way to go now
that broadband has arrived for the masses, you can't possibly expect to
use ftp exclusively, indefinately, without choking bandwidth resources,
can you?

> Second, the standard behavior of a BitTorrent client is to upload or share
> the file 3-4x before it automatically closes the transfer.  If one user on
> your network is downloads, for instance, the Fedora Core 5 DVD image, that's
> 3.5GB down and 14GB up if the download is left unattended.  

Torrent clients have their own bandwidth management, which can be
throttled to any possible value. As long as the upload rate isn't
choking the pipe with excessive values...

> Third, I have yet to encounter an example of software that is both
> business-appropriate and only available via BitTorrent.  I doubt very much
> that you actually *need* to allow it through your firewall.

Then why allow ftp through the firewall? Because it's always been there?
Ftp makes sense if you need only small-size files, some megabytes, it
doesn't make sense when having to do with .iso's, CD-size... Slackware
was quick to see the advantages with the torrent technology saving
bandwidth, offering .torrents along with their CD-iso's...

Patrick


-- 
Patrick Benson
Stockholm, Sweden
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