guess I'm not understanding...FLAC is like SHN. if the fingerprint/md5 verifies then it is effectively the same as the master original the taper/seeder made. thats the whole point of the fingerprint/md5, to verify the files are error free and that are the same as the original seed
That doesn't prove they are the originals. ie. I get a show in from you in FLAC. I decode track 1, fuck around with it in SoundForge and then encode it back to FLAC. Now if I run the test on it, it will test fine but it is not the original file you sent me. Does that make sense? To relate that to SHNs, just because the files match the MD5 they were sent with doesn't mean that MD5 is the original seeded by the taper.
-Kevin
if you alter a file in any way, then the fingerprint/md5 will NOT match the file you downloaded.
as for: "To relate that to SHNs, just because the files match the MD5 they were sent with doesn't mean that MD5 is the original seeded by the taper."
well, I guess thats where the fingerprint/md5 that is hosted on etree/archive, etc comes into play...you can match the the fingerprint/md5 with what is listed on those sites to see if it matches the "original"