Peeking behind the great firewall: privacy on Chinese file sharing networks

As citizens debate the morality of using global surveillance to enforce cyber security, software technologies that can proliferate illegal distribution of copyright material are evolving rapidly. One such technology is Peer-to-Peer networking which, through well-known implementations such as Napster, Bittorrent and eMule, has enabled users to share files at optimal speeds and at near infinite scale. This technology is contentious in that it can distribute highly desired files globally in minutes if not seconds and determining illegal vs legal applications is a challenge. Recently, a new player Xunlei has arrived on the Peer-to-Peer scene with an impressive network and unprecedented global reach. Xunlei, a proprietary Peer-to-Peer network, is unique in that it aggregates multiple file sources together seamlessly enabling content to be consumed via a single client. The aggregated approach raises some ethical dilemmas. Is it a good thing that centralised management of Peer-to-Peer networks exists? Is it a form of populous control? Where will it lead as Peer-to-Peer usage becomes more mainstream? Finally, does it threaten an individual's privacy? This paper investigates the Xunlei network as it stands today and takes valuable steps towards addressing these questions, and to defining future fields of research.