Share (P2P)

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Share

Screenshot of Share
Developer:	ファイル倉庫 (FAIRU Sōko "File warehouse")
Latest release:	EX2 (TCP) and NT5 (UDP) / March 31, 2006
OS:	Microsoft Windows
Use:	File sharing
License:	Freeware
Website:	Only on Freenet

Share is the name for a closed-source P2P application being developed in Japan by an anonymous author. Since the author of Winny was arrested, Share was developed as its successor, also focusing on higher security. Share functions in much the same manner as Winny, using encrypted caches, filenames and IP addresses, and is based on the same node organized architecture as Winny.

1 Advantages of Share
2 Criticism of Share
3 Download
4 Language localizations
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Advantages of Share

Share uses encryption to hide the identity of who is transferring or what they are transferring. It is non-centralized so it cannot be easily shutdown and it supports multiple source "swarm" downloading. All files are transferred encrypted so they must be decrypted upon download completion. In the mean time they are stored in encrypted form in a "Cache" folder. This folder is also used to allow your recently downloaded files to be shared among the network based on priorities.

Share also features a plugin system. The plugins and PDK are readily available through the Share network. The PDK is in Delphi.

Unlike Winny, Share allows users to specify up to 255 Cluster keywords, though only 5 can be active at once (Winny only allowed 3 cluster words, and its system was more confusing). These are used to connect to nodes that have also specified the same Cluster Keywords. This allows users to maintain connections with nodes that are sharing files they might be interested in, while disconnecting from nodes that share content they are not concerned about.

Users can specify auto-download triggers and auto-block filters. The network also appears to have some sort of a Forgery Warning system to warn people about possible falsified data/files.

Like Winny, Share uses Trip IDs to verify the identity of a person sharing a file. A Trip is a sort of encrypted key that identifies a person is who they say they are. This allows users to decide whether or not they trust a person based on their previous sharing experience with them.

When a new version of Share becomes available, users are given a notice in the Share statusbar. When this happens, users can search for the new version on the share network and download it from a reliable source based on Trip. This internal method of distribution makes it hard to find a copy of the software outside of the (presumed safely anonymous) Share network, since offering this software publicly could lead to unwanted attention from law enforcement agencies.

[edit] Criticism of Share

Share is highly popular in Asia, but in the West some concerns have been raised.

In Japan, high speed Internet is more readily available than in most of Western Europe and North America. For this reason the minimum upload and download limits are set to 50 kB/s. Also, the cache system can use around 4 GB of free space at any given time to store cached downloads. This might be inconvenient for people with small hard drives.
The Share GUI requires a manual or tutorial to understand. But unlike Winny, share can actually be ported over to English and multiple other languages, rather than be resource hacked.
As a closed source product, Share partially relies on security through obscurity.
Like many other P2P applications, Share downloads files in blocks. However Share can only export partially downloaded files in sequential manner. For example, if a file has 100 blocks and block 51 is missing, Share will not be able to export block 52-100 even if they are already downloaded. Winny does not have this limitation.

[edit] Download

Share cannot officially be downloaded from a website due to concerns of legality in Japan, though it is possible to obtain the application from some sources.

[edit] Language localizations

Unlike Winny, Share includes an option for localization changes (labeling of buttons, etc.). The locale.txt file contains the information for a particular language and resides in the Share directory.