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Kazaa Lite: spyware-free version

Posted by Hemos on from the making-it-clean dept.

Pig Hogger writes "According to this VNUNET article, KAZAA-Lite, a new hacked version of spyware-ridden KAZAA file-sharing software is being circulated, sans spyware. The new, improved version has apparently been hacked by a russian programmer, as a matter of course."

14 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. Ironic... by SaxMaster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The site for the KAZAA without adware/spyware is chock full of pop-ups for "free cellphones" and the like.

    --
    "Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire" --Robert Frost
  2. wine by sewagemaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    has anyone have any sucess running this under wine? since this is now the lite version, i doubt that it needs IE and should therefore work?

    --
    my blog
  3. Then you might be interested to know... by baudbarf · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...that I read slashdot several (dozens of) times a day, and this is the first time I was even made aware of the existence of a spyware-free Kazaa! So in summary; I am one of those people who want it but don't already have it.

    Just more evidence that just because you visit a website religiously, you can still miss something right under your nose.

    I'm gonna check it out now.

    --
    You can run but you can't hide, except, apparently, along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
  4. Exactly! by PastaAnta · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Instead of Kazaa et al I have switched to Gnucleus. This is one of the only real Open Source Gnutella network clients for Windows. For Linux there are so many great Open Source Gnutella clients.

    It works great. No spyware or addware, and since the Gnutella network is an open P2P network it can be expected to exist when all the other proprietary networks have been closed.

    1. Re:Exactly! by big_hairy_mama · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Hmm, can somebody post their favorite gnutella clients for Linux? Personally, none of them are nearly as nice, usable, and feature-friendly as Gnucleus and Bearshare (and Kazaa), which is precicely the only reason why I still run Windows in a VMWare VM.

      I've searched and I've searched, but

      * Limewire is the only one that cuts it in my book, but it has become too simplified (I no longer have the power to watch connection statistics or have good control over downloads, in the newer versions).

      * Qtella is nice, but missing major features like auto-selection of multiple hosts for the same download. It also has a few rough edges; for example, on my box I have to kill it manually to really shut it down after closing the window.

      * GTK-Gnutella is nice, but the interface is clunky, and seems to have stagnated.

      And most of all, none of these clients have the ability to "set it and run", downloading large files over the course of a few days and from many different hosts. Napshare (based on GTK-Gnutella and designed to run unnattended) tries, but succeeds more in downloading lots of pieces of random files overnight than the one file I want. The windows clients seem to have all implemented things like automatically re-searching for new hosts in order to get the remainder of a failed download. This, in my book, is the number one feature missing from all non-Windows clients, AFAIK.

      Also, basic niceties like auto-detecting the "forced IP address" (the IP of my router/firewall, rather than my private subnet) so that I can receive push downloads are missing, something which I love about Bearshare.

      So if anyone can correct me, please do. Otherwise, this is a call to arms to Linux Gnutella developers. Forget innovation -- until the nicest features of the Windows clients have been implemented, nothing else can happen.

  5. Re:Reason #84 by sewagemaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i guess the article forgot about this :-\

    "It would be difficult to block Kazaa Lite clients from accessing the Kazaa network simply because of the openness of the system which lets millions of users log on simultaneously."

    --
    my blog
  6. bittersweet irony... by drik00 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    is it ironic to anyone else that the same folks that are fighting the good fight by making powerful and useful peer-to-peer information technology are the same ones that fsck us by selling their souls to advertising schmoe's just to make a buck, causing them to give us exactly what we want, and exactly what we hate at the same time??

    Just ironic.

    --
    Beer, now there's a temporary solution -- Homer Jay S.
  7. This isn't so new... by Choppa · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I did this a few months ago. Instead of hacking KaZaA, I hacked the CyDoor DLL, replacing the old on with my version that simply does nothing.
    You can get the code at: http://www.bakedbeans.com/cydoor/

  8. Re:Two common misconceptions in this thread.. by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 3, Interesting


    so if the checksums were performed on the crapware to make sure it was un-altered?

    Have your trojan (in the good sense) app check the newest install file. It could locate the required file, generate a checksum on the requested offset of that file, and then return it... all without ever having to install the malware. And since it deals with the latest install file (either user-supplied or auto-downloaded?), the "authentication" is automagically updated as new install files become available.
  9. Re:mirrors by motardo · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I prefer http://www.kazaalite.nl even though it's ugly as sin :)

    -motardo

  10. Re:can you repeat that? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting


    Actually, I've gone to the trouble and effort to packet sniff this one: Nothing. Just pure P2P

    -Guard

  11. Re:Warezdot.org??? by _Sprocket_ · · Score: 4, Interesting


    WTF? I mean, are we going to see front-page links to warez copies of AutoCAD here soon, just because we don't agree with the way Autodesk wrote their software?

    You have a valid point tossed in with all the blame towards Slashdot. That point being the question of how legal and/or moral it is to hack and distribute freeware to remove undesired functionality (and would it make any difference if the app in question wasn't freeware). But I have to disagree with the overall tone of the post.


    First, this is a valid event. It is part of the backlash towards Kazaa for their business practices. And it is a popular action too, judging from the article and the fact that the last few times Kazaa has been the subject of a Slashdot article, Kazaa-Lite gets multiple mentions.



    For a site that is supposed to be so Open Source aware this seems especially strange. Open Source does not condone piracy. Instead it allows for alternatives. So why not have an article about a good Open Source alternative, instead of linking to illegal software?

    Let's not confuse issues here. This has NOTHING to do with Open Source. Heck - Kazaa has nothing to do with Open Source software itself. Though the suggestion to mention Open Source alternatives is a fair one.
  12. How do I know kazaalite is not malware as well? by stain+ain · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It took a while to realize what kind of spyware kazaa was, even with lots of people using it for a long time.
    Now we have this 'hacked' version with the spyware apparently removed. I don't know the author, there is no company behind it, it is not open source... and nonetheless we all jump over it, trusting it does what it says...
    How do I know it doesn't contain some extra spyware?
    I have not any indication that kazaalite is not a legitimate software, but again, I have not any indication on the contrary... I think there is something very wrong in the way we accept and instantly trust new software.
    My question is WHY should I trust this more than kazaa?

  13. Linux version? by Jacek+Poplawski · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What happened with Linux version of Kazaa client? Are there plans to make it back?