Companies blocking BitTorrent

This BoingBoing entry mentions a new product designed to block BitTorrent packets. Apparently the developer (Akonix) is getting companies to buy and deploy this product by spreading lies about the BitTorrent application and protocol, saying that it causes users to inadvertently share sensitive files.

Sounds like a silly product in the first place, as a few simple firewall rules would accomplish the same feat.

Anyway, I wish I only had to worry about BitTorrent being blocked. My employer is getting so damn paranoid these days that virtually any software is now prohibited, including instant messaging applications like Yahoo Messenger…

Bitoogle

Here’s an interesting site: Bitoogle, a BitTorrent search engine (via Boing Boing).

It’s funny how BitTorrent, which was really just implemented to speed up downloads of large files and not for filesharing, turned into a popular and efficient filesharing application…