Kazaa Admits to Morpheus Shutdown

An Anonymous Coward writes: "KaZaa yesterday admitted to CNET that it was behind the shutout of Morpheus from the FastTrack network. Their reason? The company didn't pay its bills. Still, there has to be more to it than that for KaZaa to cut them off so quickly and unexpectedly, especially since a P2P network's power lies in the size of its audience. There is some weird cat-and-mouse play going on here that can only be damaging to both sides in the upcoming trial against the RIAA and MPAA in California."

Comments

IRC?

[bpalmatv]

Doesn't anyone use IRC anymore? You can get just as much, if not more, on any of the large networks. Bob.

who cares

[Anonymous Coward]

ok great. go kazaa. now go get limewire and start sharing on the gnutella network!

scott

Money

[inerte]

Still, there has to be more to it than that for KaZaa to cut them off so quickly and unexpectedly, especially since a P2P network's power lies in the size of its audience.

From Kazaa's homepage:

"Morpheus users - Come on over to our place"

Kazaa has spyware, that's where their money come from. For them, any increase on the number of people using their program is good, and NOT using Morpheus.

The Real Reason: Cydoor

[hndrcks]

Kazaa / Grokster / whatever "upgraded" the software last week to REQUIRE installation of the Cydoor spyware junk. Morpheus has always committed to "no spyware."

There is a solution for those wanting to use Grokster but not have the Cydoor crap:

http://www.cexx.org/cydoor.htm

Perhaps becuase StreamCast was American?

[instinctdesign]

There is some weird cat-and-mouse play going on here that can only be damaging to both sides in the upcoming trial against the RIAA and MPAA in California.

It might have something to do with the fact that Morpheus, owned by the American company StreamCast, was perhaps the most likely of the three to get convicted under United States' law. Thusly, they were the best target and perhaps the biggest liability of each of the companies running FastTrack. With them, and no other United States localized company running FastTrack, the network is a bit more secure since going after the others would be meddling in other country's laws. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I read it.

Re:Proving FastTrack isn't true P2P

[jordan]

SMTP is P2P. HTTP is P2P. NNTP is P2P. The internet? P2P. Our nationwide telephone switching system? Woops, P2P too.

You mean fully distributed, not P2P. And I don't think anyone claims it, except for Gnutella and its variants.

--jordan

Re:Eee Gads! I though it was non-shut-down-able...

[LighthouseJ]

Try giFT or jiFT.

Re:Eee Gads! I though it was non-shut-down-able...

[liquidsin]

giFT is an open source ft client, and they're also developing the openFT network that they hope will become the new standard for p2p file trading. It's loosely based on the FastTrack network used by kazaa but it's all open sourced.

Re:I thought Gnutella was done

[Glass of Water]

see this article for a good explanation of why Gnutella is not O(N^2).

not to start a boring war, or anything.

j.n.

Re:Kazaa true p2p?

[Ewan]

When limewire connects it goes not to a central server, but another limewire client. Limewire happens to provide 4 or 5 default client ips to connect to (router1.gnuetta.org, router2, router3, etc if i remember) but if 1 or all of those 5 were to go down, then you could type in a replacement yourself which you could find from a website. With morpheus/kazaa etc, you can't change the IP you connect to first.

Ewan

Before we get too X files...

[Rogerborg]

• "MusicCity has failed to pay any amounts due to Kazaa BV under the parties' license agreement"

Note the "any". You don't need rocket science to work out that you can only give people the benefit of the doubt for so long before deciding that you're being scammed and are never going to see one penny. Ironic, nes pas, that Kazaa kick of Morpheous for freeloading on their work and IP, when the vast majority of Kazaa's income is coming from serving ads to people making copies of copyrighted material (self included, I'm not being pejorative)?

• "[Morpheus] has said that Kazaa BV was able to change settings stored deep inside Morpheus users' computers as they logged on to the file-trading network"

Who there, conspiracy theorists. The "setting" is question is probably just the "bool bClientIsAuthorised" flag based on the reply from the Kazaa authentication servers. There's nothing sinister going on here. This is the way the Kazaa network is supposed to work (now). Authorised clients paying for connection to the Kazaa authentication servers. Since they went authentication to throw off giFT, Kazaa has been a client-server/P2P hybrid. Maybe Morpheus didn't get that, but I'm sure the giFT team can explain it to them.

• StreamCast's Griffin conceded last week that there had been some dispute over licensing terms for the peer-to-peer software. But he said that a wholesale shutdown of the Morpheus network would have violated the terms of his contract with Kazaa BV. In a message to Morpheus users this weekend, Griffin pointed fingers at Kazaa BV and warned people not to use the company's software.

Translation: "Those bastards actually make you pay to play! I mean, they expect us to hold up our end of the contract as well as them holding up theirs. What's with that?"

• The RIAA reacted to this development quickly last week. "We have been saying all along that they control the system, and this proves it," RIAA Senior Vice President Matt Oppenheim said in a statement last week.

Sure, or you could have subpoena'd the giFT team to tell you that... ;-)

What you absolutely must understand is that Morpheus is a commercial service. The "100% spyware free!" boast was a marketing plot. They thought they could make money off of freeloaders (like me, remember?). Trouble is, Kazaa had the same idea, and Kazaa own the keys to that particular part of the Magic Kingdom.

Now Morpehsu is going to try and make money off of Gnutella. Well, here's a pretty pickle. Does the Gnutella network want a for-profit service in there, attracting the ire of the MPAA and their bought politicians (and judges who, lest we forget, have an eye on promotion to the Supremes, and can tell which way the political winds are shifting)? I doubt it. Can Gnutella do anything about it? Of course not. They can't pull a Kazaa and block Morpheus, either by force majeur or through obscurity.

Screw who said what to who between Kazaa and Morpheus. That's yesterday's news, it was doubtless all about the bottom line, and given the characters of the organisations in question (proprietary, commercial, legally dubious), we simply can't expect anything like honest answers from anybody. It's "Morpheus versus Gnutella", or "Morpheus with Gnutella" that's the issue now. This is shaping up to be the first big test of how well open source can survive in a hostile environment, with layer upon layer of juicy morality quandaries to pick over.

Is it wrong for Morpheus to "freeload" off of Gnutella? But they're license compliant, and they bring a whole lot of content with them. And the whole Gnutella network is - de facto - already about freeloading. But making profit off of it just fuels the MPAA/RIAA's law-buying machine...

This one is going to run and run. I for one am going to settle down with some popcorn and enjoy the (truly) free show. ;-)

Delete Morpheus, install Gnucleus

[Von Rex]

There's a name missing in this debate: Gnucleus.

Some of you might not realize the depths of sleaze to which Morpheus has descended. To make their latest "preview version", they took an open source Gnutella client named Gnucleus (http://www.gnucleus.com), added their branding and annoying popup ads, and redistributed it as the new version of Morpheus.

They did not even contact the developers of Gnucleus before they ripped off their software. And they ban anyone from the Music City chat room who even mentions the existence of Gnucleus.

The "developers" of Morpheus are not people who deserve your loyalty or concern. My advice to everyone is to immediately delete Morpheus and and install Gnucleus. It's the same program but without the advertising and popups. And by doing so you'll be showing a little respect to the people who actually wrote the program, rather than the pieces of shit who renamed it and are attempting to pass it off as their own.

Re:Delete Morpheus, install Gnucleus

[inerte]

Other than not contacting John Marshall (or Swabby, main Gnucleus developer), what evil have they done? They do provide the source code, and when installing the new Preview Edition, even the GPL itself is presented.

I think they were suddenly disconnected from Fastrack and had to move so fast to not lose their userbase base of millions, that quick, but sadly, badly done, actions had to be taken.

Give them another week to clarify things, first for them, later for the community. I can only imagine the big mess that's currently happening on Morpheus offices... I don't think that bashing will help now.

Re:Delete Morpheus, install Gnucleus

[rufo]

Damn my mod points to hell, I've got to respond here. By putting their client in the GPL, anyone can take their software and make changes to it, as long as the source is posted, right?

This means a company like Morpheus can do *exactly* what they're doing right now: take a GPL client, re-brand it, and post it up on the web. They have the source there on their page. They are not breaking any rules at all. They don't have to notify the Gnucleus people. They don't have to keep it ad-free. They can add spy-ware to the installer if they choose (although Morpheus has a no-spyware policy). By putting your software in the GPL, you run the risk of somebody doing this.

Now, I'm not saying that it doesn't suck for the Gnucleus people. I'd be ticked off too if somebody did that to me. I'm just saying that quite technically, there's nothing wrong here.

Morpheus Sucks

[Anonymous Coward]

It's because Morpheus sucks. The client, which Morpheus STOLE, is wonderful. It's called Gnucleus. It's open source, free, and the future. Try it here.

Re:Eee Gads! I though it was non-shut-down-able...

[jellybear]

I use giFT. It's coming along nicely. Still a few snags now and then, but quite good. It's already better than gnutella, imho.

Re:It's not the reason, it's the method.

[Rogerborg]

• I don't like the idea that they used a back-door to change user settings.

It's OK, it's only an idea, not an actual fact. All Kazaa are doing is refusing to authenticate Morpheus clients. The "setting deep in your machine" that gets set is the flag in the client that reminds it that it's been told to get lost.

Always consider the source. Morpheus is a for-profit organisation that's (allegedly but credibly) refused to honour its contract with Kazaa. There's a perfect innoculous translation of their rant against Kazaa that matches the facts. You don't have to buy their FUD, unless you really, really want to.

help from the reg

[Dambiel]

"As a result of MusicCity's breach, Kazaa BV did not provide version 1.5 to MusicCity. Kazaa has also terminated MusicCity's license." (from the cnet link)

while TheRegister reports that the plug was pulled bc of attacks on the morpheus network:
"It appears that the attacks included an encrypted message being repeatedly sent directly to your computers that changed registry settings in your computer," a statement by Griffin to users on the accelerated availability of Morpheus Preview Edition states.

Re:Fair use is not a black and white issue

[Rogerborg]

[personal/friends/family copies] may not be fair use, but it may also not be copyright infringement. In fact, it's a grey area

It absolutely is not, and none of your references even suggest otherwise. I'll just assert that flat out, because I doubt that most readers will bother reading either of our references, and it bothers me to see this fantasy reenforced here yet again, because it gives a false sense of security, that our personal activities are protected and sacrosanct.

• So it could be argued that limited copying for personal use provides negligible impact on the overall market, and is therefore fair use

Look, I'll spell it out again, shall I? There is no clause in fair use, there never has been one, that allows fair use for anything other than: (1) criticism and comment, (2) parody and satire, (3) scholarship and research, (4) news reporting and (5) teaching. To qualify for consideration under the fair use defence, your use must fall into these categories. You don't even get to argue the "negligible impact" until you've shown that you qualify. There is no case zero. There is no case six. Personal/friends/family use is not one of the five cases.

• A reasonable discussion of Fair Use, with considerably more thought and insight than the parent post is available here

Betting nobody would read it, huh? This is a very brief document that deals with protection of existing library fair use, which is firmly in the realm of "scholarship and research" and/or "teaching". But enough from me, let's quote verbatim from your reference, with no editing:

• "The fair use provision of the Copyright Act allows reproduction and other uses of copyrighted works under certain conditions for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching(including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research. Additional provisions of the law allow uses specifically permitted by Congress to further educational and library activities"

OK, thanks for making my point. No mention of personal use. Personal use, friends and family copies, this is fiction, not fact.

If you're going to argue legalities, you have to learn to quote case law. I'm going to help you out a bit by posting a synopsis of the Supreme Court decision in Sony v. Universal Studios 464 U.S. 417 (1984), a.k.a. "the Betamax case" aka the "Sony Decision" judgement. Note that it contradicts my black and white stance a little, but note also that it qualifies that very carefully, and that it references earlier case law:

• "The respondents and Sony both conducted surveys of the way the Betamax machine was used by several hundred owners during a sample period in 1978. Although there were some differences in the surveys, they both showed that the primary use of the machine for most owners was "time-shifting" -- the practice of recording a program to view it once at a later time, and thereafter erasing it. [...] The District Court concluded that noncommercial home use recording of material broadcast over the public airwaves was a fair use of copyrighted works and did not constitute copyright infringement. It emphasized the fact that the material was broadcast free to the public at large, the noncommercial character of the use, and the private character of the activity conducted entirely within the home. Moreover, the court found that the purpose of this use served the public interest in increasing access to television programming, an interest that "is consistent with the First Amendment policy of providing the fullest possible access to information through the public airwaves. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Democratic National Committee, 412 U.S. 94, 102." "

OK, your turn. Find a case that extends the defence of a single and temporary copy, entirely within the home, to make it even remotely relevant to making permanent copies for the use of friends and family, or even for personal use. You can't, because no such source exists, no matter how hard you wish for it, and however hard you wish that future judgements are going to be based on the wish list of libraries, the fact is that future judgements will be based on past judgements. Find the case law that supports making permanent copies of non-broadcast material for yourself, or for friends or family.

Incidentally, this is very much On Topic. If it comes to the crunch, Gnutella - rather Gnutella developers - are just as boned as Kazaa, because neither of them can (I contend) show that they even qualify for consideration for fair use protection. The financial argument is irrelevant, because they won't be able to show grounds for even making it.

"Such as" in US � law is *not* limitative

[yerricde]

There is no clause in fair use, there never has been one, that allows fair use for anything other than: (1) criticism and comment, (2) parody and satire, (3) scholarship and research, (4) news reporting and (5) teaching. To qualify for consideration under the fair use defence, your use must fall into these categories. You don't even get to argue the "negligible impact" until you've shown that you qualify. There is no case zero. There is no case six. Personal/friends/family use is not one of the five cases.

Bull. You completely misinterpret the "such as" wording of the law. According to 17 USC 101, "The terms 'including' and 'such as' are illustrative and not limitative" (emphasis by yerricde). The fair use law (17 USC 107) opens by stating: "the fair use of a copyrighted work ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright" (emphasis by yerricde). Nowhere does it limit what may be considered as fair use. It then goes on to list the four factors that figure into a fair use defense. The judge in a fair use case must base her decision primarily (if not solely) on those factors. This non-limitation of fair use explains why the Sony v. Universal decision "contradicts [your] black and white stance a little."

Additionally, your CBS v. DNC quote may pose an argument against encryption of non-subscription broadcast television.

Re:I thought Gnutella was done

[Adam Fisk]

The most advanced Gnutella clients are almost identical to the FastTrack system. FastTrack was coded off of the Gnutella model. It's basically just a pumped up old Gnutella, and that's exactly what the newer Gnutella clients are.

Once again, folks, the Gnutella protocol is not a static entity. At this point it's really an evolving set of the original protocol and extensions.

In short, Gnutella is where the action is. It's an open protocol with a great deal of development among the client developers as well as the academic community. Many of the clients are also open source, providing a rich overall platform for innovation. The original protocol with all of the extensions has also become quite complex. The design, I assure you, no longer "sucks."

If you're interested, check out the center for active Gnutella development at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_gdf/

Thanks.

Adam Fisk
LimeWire LLC