EarthStation 5
Encyclopedia
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
network active between 2003 and 2005, operated by a company of the same name. The user client application also shared this name. Earth Station 5 was notable for its strong, if overstated, emphasis on user anonymity, and for its bold advocacy of piracy and copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
. ES5's highly antagonistic position toward copyright advocacy and enforcement organizations garnered the group significant attention and peaked with an ES5 press release announcing a "declaration of war" against the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
. ES5 claimed to operate out of the Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
in the Palestinian Authority-controlled West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, a region where they argued that copyright laws were unenforceable. Investigative journalism cast serious doubts on the company's Palestinian origin as well as many of its other claims. To this day, much about the company and its leadership remains uncertain or unknown.
Peer-to-peer services
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
(P2P) file sharing service and a standalone Earth Station 5 file-sharing client. Initial versions of the software could only share or download files by using the ES5 network.
ES5's P2P network and client were announced on June 9, 2003. People associated with ES5 claimed in media reports that the network had more than 16,000,000 participants at its peak, but these numbers were unsupported and viewed very skeptically. The actual number of participants was probably several orders of magnitude
Order of magnitude
An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. In its most common usage, the amount being scaled is 10 and the scale is the exponent being applied to this amount...
smaller.
Largely due to the low availability of files on the small ES5 network, later versions of the ES5 client included the free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
/open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
giFT
GiFT
giFT Internet File Transfer is a computer software daemon that allows several file sharing protocols to be used with a simple client having a graphical user interface...
daemon which provided ES5 users access to the larger Gnutella
Gnutella
Gnutella is a large peer-to-peer network which, at the time of its creation, was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model...
and FastTrack networks. While Gnutella
Gnutella
Gnutella is a large peer-to-peer network which, at the time of its creation, was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model...
and FastTrack offered access to many more files, the functionality that let users access these networks did not take advantage of any of ES5's anonymity features, which decreased the advantages of ES5 over other P2P clients — in particular other FastTrack or Gnutella
Gnutella
Gnutella is a large peer-to-peer network which, at the time of its creation, was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model...
clients.
ES5 software
The first version of the ES5 client used a space and spaceship motif and provided many options. In addition to several filesharing options, it provided links to chat, news, forums, dating functionality and news. The client interface was derided by reviewers as "clunky" and "a busy affair" for its plethora of features.The second version of the client, released a year later, garnered better reviews. However, users still felt overwhelmed by the "bundled" features that included a dating service and audio-visual chat. ES5 claimed it planned to capitalize on these features in order to become profitable.
Claims to anonymity
ES5 became well known for its strong claims that file-sharing on its network was entirely anonymous — a feature it billed as its most important and revolutionary — and that its users could share files while remaining undetectable and thus invulnerable to lawsuits by the RIAA's member companies, which had recently begun suing P2P users. ES5 president Ras Kabir claimed that on ES5, "users no longer have to be concerned about what they are sharing, or with whom they are sharing because there is complete anonymity."Many groups countered ES5's claims about its users' anonymity. RIAA vice president Matt Oppenheim described it as "marketing hype of the worst kind. It is playing on the fears of others, encouraging them to engage in behavior that will get them into a boatload of trouble." Even many participating in or sympathetic to the file-sharing community were skeptical, believing that anonymous communication on P2P networks was technically impossible without critically compromising quality of service, and as a result they considered ES5's claims to be snake oil
Snake oil (cryptography)
In cryptography, snake oil is a term used to describe commercial cryptographic methods and products which are considered bogus or fraudulent. The name derives from snake oil, one type of quack medicine widely available in 19th century United States....
.
ES5's claims to anonymity were based on its use of several security technologies. The first version of the software used Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
, encrypted searches over UDP
User Datagram Protocol
The User Datagram Protocol is one of the core members of the Internet Protocol Suite, the set of network protocols used for the Internet. With UDP, computer applications can send messages, in this case referred to as datagrams, to other hosts on an Internet Protocol network without requiring...
, and integration with PGPDisk
PGPDisk
PGP Virtual Disk is an on-the-fly encryption system that allows one to create a virtual encrypted disk within a file.Older versions for Windows NT were freeware . These are still available for download, but no longer maintained...
. However, none of these layers of security prevented RIAA member companies from detecting and gathering information about ES5 users' file trading activities. In later versions of its client, ES5 added the ability to use a network of proxies
Proxy server
In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
to obscure the source of requests or shared files. ES5 staffers maintained a frequently-updated list of proxy servers. List updates were posted regularly to the ES5 forums and then updated into the clients by hand. ES5 also added the ability to "spoof" IP addresses in a way that ES5 claimed made it more difficult to track down file sharers.
Copyright infringement by ES5
After the ruling in A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., which held NapsterNapster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
liable for contributory infringement
Contributory infringement
Contributory infringement may refer to:* contributory patent infringement* contributory copyright infringement...
by its users, Most P2P networks were careful to adopt a strategy of "turning a blind eye" to copyright infringement on their network in order to escape or minimize liability. ES5 distinguished itself by openly supporting its users' copyright infringement over its network and by actively participating in sharing movies with its users.
Some within the file-sharing community speculated that ES5 shared media in order to "seed" the network with media — a step necessary because ES5's user base was very small compared to other networks and it did not require quotas. ES5 shared media by downloading content from other networks (e.g., Kazaa
Kazaa
Kazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
and Gnutella
Gnutella
Gnutella is a large peer-to-peer network which, at the time of its creation, was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model...
), vetting these for quality, and then connecting a version of their client to their network from one of their servers. This step was important in assuring that ES5's network could offer a sufficient amount of content to users.
In the early stages of the network, ES5 tried to attract users by streaming movies in addition to in-network sharing. To do this, ES5 created a website at movies.es5.org which provided links to dozens of Hollywood films immediately available for streaming.
Antagonistic relationship to media industry
While few P2P networks enjoy friendly relationships with the media and content industries, ES5 displayed a famously antagonistic relationship to them—most notably the US-based Motion Picture Association of AmericaMotion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
and Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. This position culminated in a famous press release where ES5 formally declared war on the MPAA:
- In response to the email received today from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to Earthstation 5 for copyright violations for streaming FIRST RUN movies over the internet for FREE, this is our official response!
- Earthstation 5 is at war with the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA) and the Record Association of America (RIAA), and to make our point very clear that their governing laws and policys [sic] have absolutely no meaning to us here in Palestine, we will continue to add even more movies for FREE.
In the same release, ES5 claimed that, "unlike Kazaa and other P2P programs who subsequently deny building their P2P program for illegal file-sharing, ES5 is the only P2P application and portal to actually join its users in doing P2P."
Because of its antagonistic relationship to media companies, its highly outspoken stance, and its claims to be based in a refugee camp in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, ES5 became the center of a large amount of media attention. Investigative articles ultimately served to expose much of the lies and misinformation behind the site and its operators.
Other services
The movie sharing system, called movies.es5.org, provided streaming versions of Hollywood films in Real Media format. These films were advertised in press releases by name and were streamed without permission from the copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
holders. The interactive website was designed to appear as a Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
desktop. Perhaps due to bandwidth concerns, ES5 discontinued the video streaming after only a few months.
People and leadership
ES5 intentionally obscured the details of its company leadership. While ES5 claimed that it had over one thousand employees (most based in the West BankWest Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
), the facts seem to indicate that there were never more than a handful.
Publicly, ES5 was run by President Ras Kabir, Lead Programmer "File Hoover", and Forums Administrator and Programmer "SharePro". Faced with evidence that the company had a relationship with Stephen M. Cohen
Stephen M. Cohen
Stephen Michael Cohen is an American who gained notoriety after acquiring control of the domain name Sex.com in 1995. He was later implicated in involvement in running the controversial peer-to-peer service EarthStation 5....
, then a fugitive because of his involvement in the sex.com scandal, the company announced its retention of Cohen's services as an executive consultant.
Ras Kabir
Most ES5 press releases quoted company president Ras Kabir who, like most of the company, was nominally based in Jenin in the West Bank.Stephen M. Cohen
While his involvement in the project was publicly hidden early on, Stephen Michael Cohen was closely involved in all stages of ES5 and, in most opinions, was the founder, primary architect, and primary participant in most of its actions. Cohen is best known as the person involved in fraudulently obtaining control of the sex.comSex.com
Sex.com is an Internet domain name and web portal currently owned by Clover Holdings LTD. The domain name was the focus of one of the most publicized legal actions about ownership of domain names...
domain name.
ES5's business registrations papers, filed with the Palestinian Authority, listed Cohen as the "sole director" of ES5. Both in the forum and through their spokesperson, ES5 officials claimed that Cohen played the role of a consultant. Kabir claimed that, "We offered Mr. Cohen an executive job with our company. He initially turned us down, however after several telephone calls, he finally gave in and agreed to help us in the capacity of a consultant."
Fueling speculation about Cohen's close involvement, ES5's unanticipated closing coincided closely with Cohen's arrest for activity related to sex.com
Sex.com
Sex.com is an Internet domain name and web portal currently owned by Clover Holdings LTD. The domain name was the focus of one of the most publicized legal actions about ownership of domain names...
.
Downfall
ES5 suffered a precipitous downfall that ultimately ended with the closing of the network in 2005. Analysts have seen several factors as contributing to its downfall and ultimate closing.Untrue claims exposed
The anonymous authors claimed they were based in a refugee campRefugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
in Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
, though some investigative attempts to locate their headquarters in Jenin were fruitless.
Many of the claims behind ES5 were unsubstantiated and untrue. With increased media analysis, especially from the Washington Post, it became clear that ES5 was not what it claimed to be. ES5 was not based in Jenin or even elsewhere in Palestine. Most of the people claimed to be behind ES5 were found to be fabricated, and many of ES5's technical claims were debunked; also, ES5 was not nearly as large as it claimed at several points.
ES5 had claimed that the encryption around its system made identifying and blocking traffic from the site impossible. A P2P Watch Dog post demonstrated a method by which packets from ES5 could be identified and blocked. This was quickly put into action in several anti-P2P systems on the market at the time.
Other contributing factors
There were several other reasons that many in the P2P and file-sharing community distrusted ES5. Many speculated that the project was engaging in practices such as seeding and streaming of films from ES5 servers and proxying that would not scale.But as the apparently secretive and untruthful acts of ES5 came to light, the core fan base began to rebel in the main ES5 forum, leading to many users being banned and topics being deleted. Eventually the forum collapsed and a new forum was started by the admin "SharePro", however the new forum never gained the popularity that the old one had.
Closing
In February 2005, ES5 quietly closed its doors. On January 24, 2005, Stephen Cohen posted a strange message on the ES5 forums asking users to work with him to reinvent the platform:Within a month, ES5 was completely shut down and dismantled. The ES5 website and forums were taken offline permanently and are today accessible through the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's Wayback Machine.
External links
- Softpedia page which includes links to screenshots and the ability to download the (now useless) client
- Story on P2P.Net