This nightmare is not likely to happen to you. But your computer could experience such a trauma. Indeed, two American companies put on the market new technologies, namely Napster and Gnutella, which make it possible to connect all the hard drives of all the computers connected on the Internet. In both cases, it is enough to download a small software and to be registered.

Consequently, you can carry out a search on the network of all the hard drives of private individuals connected on the Internet and subscribed to Napster or Gnutella. Let us admit that you are seeking the MP3 file of the latest song by Britney Spears, just type " MP3 Britney Spears ", and launch the query. If the file is on the hard drive of any of the Napster or Gnutella users, your computer is going to connect to the other person’s computer and the file is going to be transfered. The two technologies differ in that Napster uses a central Web site managing all its subscribers, whereas Gnutella gradually connects the computers without using any central Web site (see Fortune International Edition, June 26, 2000) and transmits the requests from one computer to the other. But these two technologies could revolutionize our practice of the Internet, and even our conception of privacy.

These tools have the following advantages:

1. They make available recent and original information. Contrary to the directories like Yahoo! or the search engines like Altavista which are updated only periodically, the requests launched by Napster or Gnutella will bring back what is on the hard drives of the members now. Including what those members added in the shared directory dedicated to the file exchange service just 5 minutes earlier. And if you are looking for spicy, anticonformist information , you can certainly find some on the hard drive of one impassioned guy somewhere on the planet.
2. They make it possible to find information coming from multiple sources. These new technologies offer their members the information collected by tens of thousands of voluntary geeks wishing to contribute to a community of knowledge. And it is just the beginning.
3. They make it possible to download files quickly. If you are seeking executables (shareware or freeware, of course), it will undoubtedly take you less time to download them directly from the hard drive of a network member than to get it from one of these congested downloading portals.

Obviously, several drawbacks must be taken into account :

1. Retrieved information can be hardly reliable. Indeed, information found on the Web does not offer any guarantee in terms of quality and accuracy, except when it originates from reputed web sites. This problem is amplified by Napster and Gnutella, because I am the only person in charge of the information I am recording on my hard drive and that I am offering to the community, whether it results from a thorough investigation or from my fertile imagination.
2. The system does not offer a constant quality. If information available on the Napster or Gnutella networks is permanently updated, the other side of the coin is a great volatility of the results obtained. According to the moment when you launch your query and the users connected at that time, you will be able to obtain or not the invaluable file that you are looking for.

But there is no question that the major issue is related to the security and inviolability of the information residing on your hard drive. Admittedly, only the data contained in a specific directory is available to the network members. But some hackers might find a way to break this protection. Then, the confidential data of your " Mergers " directory could be plundered. Your computer could also be attacked by viruses which will make IloveYou look like a simple computer chicken pox. Last but not least, hackers could also find a means to upload to your computers compromising files that could put you at evil with Justice. You could be in a situation similar to that of those tourists in exotic countries which were accused of drug traffic after someone planted cocaine in their luggage.

However, these real or potential dangers should not occult the major contribution of these technologies to the Internet. We are entering a new era of the network concept. Now, each of us can turn his/her computer into a tiny server, which multiplies the power of the network.

Lastly, Flower People’s children should feel comfortable with these new techniques. Indeed, it is a true community of knowledge that is under construction. Each Net surfer can freely share his/her knowledge with his Brothers and Sisters on the Web, and receive in return valuable information.

Come what may, each of us would benefit from a deep consideration on the concepts of private life and data confidentiality. Today and more still tomorrow, an unknown surfer could offer you the invaluable recipe you were hopelessly looking for. But he/she could at the same time visit your contact listings or your private diary.

So here is a good piece of advice to protect your physical and immaterial goods: the next time you leave for the weekend, do not forget to close the water conduits and to disconnect your computer.