[OLPC Security] End of P2P discussion (was: Re: Anti-theft and Anti-Sale ideas for Nepal)

[Ivan Krstić]

Bipin Gautam wrote:
> I believe the solution would only be as complex as the popular
> technology P2P, which are mostly OSS projects, pritty stable  and have
> wide implimentation already! OLPC just need to add a a little
> automation over the existing code with minor modification. Thats it.

No, P2P techniques cannot be reasonably used to satisfy the P_THEFT
requirements. The anti-theft system already uses the mesh networking,
which is a peer to peer system, to utilize any available internet
connectivity for renewing its lease. But the leases still have to come
from upstream, and they still have to be renewed on an individual basis.
 If the reasons for this are unclear, please re-read the spec.

Let's please put an end to the P2P discussion. Once the technical spec
is out in late March, and someone can make a coherent and *technically*
valid argument for how aspects of the system can be beneficially shifted
to a peer-to-peer network, we can talk about it again.

-- 
Ivan Krstić <krstic at solarsail.hcs.harvard.edu> | GPG: 0x147C722D