Warning notices of illegal downloading or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing may not always be accurate, according to a UW study conducted in May.

The study was created to better understand copyright enforcement and how illegal downloading is actually tracked, said Michael Piatek, the lead graduate student on the project.

The study involved attempting to receive Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices. DMCA is a U.S. copyright law that was passed and signed into law by the Senate in October 1998. The law was created to lessen piracy and illegal manufacturing, copying and distributing of software. DMCA takedown notices are formal requests to stop illegal downloading or sharing.

During the UW study, more than 400 genuine DCMA takedown notices were received, although no downloading or file sharing occurred.

Unwarrented takedown notices are sent when monitoring agents identify users by their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses on file sharing or downloading networks. Whether or not a user actually downloaded or shared a file is not monitored, causing innocent peer-to-peer (P2P) users to receive notices, Piatek said.

Even non-computers, such as printers, received notices during the study. Three laser printers, which have their own IP addresses, were accused of downloading the movies Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

IP addresses could also be manipulated, allowing users to frame others.

“We describe several weaknesses in the approach used by some monitoring agencies today,” Piatek said. “In the short term, we expect these weaknesses will be addressed.”

The team of researchers included Piatek, assistant professor Tadayoshi Kohno and research assistant professor Arvind Krishnamurthy, all from the UW.

While some DCMA takedown notices are not valid, many still are. The study focused on BitTorrent, one of the many P2P file-sharing networks. On this popular network, users can both legally and illegally share files.

“Our work [is] a first step towards evolving the current approach to monitoring and enforcement in peer-to-peer networks,” Piatek said.

The researchers hope this study will lead to a greater openness of the processes used by monitoring agencies. They also hope the process changes, so that information is verified before notices are sent.

Sophomore Victoria Pontrantolf said that if she downloaded materials online, she would be skeptical of any DCMA notices. Also, she would like to see monitoring agencies change their procedures.

“I think they need to find a way to accurately monitor who is actually downloading,” Pontrantolf said. “Not just who’s looking.”