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Kazaa/Altnet To Pay Users For Trading Content

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-as-good-as-it-sounds dept.

mesozoic writes "News.com is reporting that Kazaa and Altnet are unrolling a setup where users are paid to distribute 'authorized content.' The article also mentions something about getting rid of unauthorized files, but is unclear on when and how. I'll be paying close attention to whether this P2P business model pans out; Sharman _has_ shown some shrewd business sense in the past."

12 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Great! by gpinzone · · Score: 2, Informative

    Next stop, My computer will be used as a pr0n server without my knowledge, and since it will be (semi-)encrypted, I won't even necessarily know about it.

    You just described the freenet project.

  2. They may have problems buying prizes by zptdooda · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even as Altnet launches its ambitious new service, parent Brilliant Digital is struggling on the edge of financial survival. In a federal securities document filed in late May, the company said it had "negative working capital of approximately $4,165"

    How many prize cars does -$4,165 buy?

    --
    Esteem isn't a zero sum game
  3. Re:Raises some interesting issues by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Informative
    According to copy right laws in the US, works are copy-righted for the life of the author plus 70 years. It used to be 50 years. So Elvis' work will still be the property of his estate (or the record company depending on who actually owns what) until 2047.

    With the Internet, things are less clear because the expanse and reach of it have only recently been addressed in the courts. Presumably, someone in the USA downloading your copy would be breaking copyright laws whereas someone is Germany would not. That is the present situation until the courts or governments decide otherwise.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  4. More crappy patents by Sanity · · Score: 5, Informative
    The company is looking to a new patent license for one new revenue source. It has acquired rights to a 1999 patent that Bermeister says covers the technique of identifying files on peer-to-peer networks using a "hash," or digital fingerprint based on the contents of the file. The company will approach virtually all other peer-to-peer services to seek license rights, Bermeister said.
    Good luck to them - the actual 1999 patent is invalidated by the hashtable datastructure which has been around for decades, and their 2002 patent is clearly nullified by the Content Hash Key first introduced in Freenet in 2001 (and I am sure earlier prior art exists too but Freenet, being a P2P network, is more on-point).
  5. Kazaa Lite: No Altnet by Lebrun · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just keep using Kazaa Lite, that is, until they find a way to disable access for non-authorized versions, and we all end up with "only" eMule and the other networks, which will probably include a modified version of WASTE in the near future.

    --

    I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.

  6. Re:Raises some interesting issues by inerte · · Score: 2, Informative

    I believe you would be screwed under the US laws... pretty much like when Amazon was forbidden to ship Mein Kampf to some countries. (Germany?)

    It would not be practible to sue you, but if someone ever want to do it, then I believe you would have problems...

    --
    Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
  7. Kazaa Lite - Tastes Great::Less Filling by FrEaK7782 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just use KazaaLite. And then run Ad-Aware to remove Gator and all the other evil spyware and crap Kazaa installs. Plus, KazaaLite makes you a super user. Supposedly that has benefits...

    1. Re:Kazaa Lite - Tastes Great::Less Filling by swtaarrs · · Score: 3, Informative

      Even better - KazzaLite K++. It's the normal KazzaLite with some great features added, like Auto Unlimited Search More and such. I use it all the time and love it. The website is down right now, but it should be back up soon.

    2. Re:Kazaa Lite - Tastes Great::Less Filling by Mitchell+Mebane · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, the link is Kazaa Lite. It doesn't resolve with the www.

      And just to make clear, kazaalite.com is NOT the official Kazaa Lite site; it is some squatter.

      --

      The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
      --Aristotle
  8. Re:sounds like a dumb idea... by tchueh · · Score: 2, Informative

    I don't know about you... but alladvantage worked out pretty well for me... At my peak I was getting $300 dollar cheques every month... before they changed the model to the "lottery" style.

    All it took was around 10 direct referals...

  9. Re:Peer to Peer to Peer by coandco · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, if you want a great spyware-free Windoze client, Shareaza is your ticket. It connects to Gnutella 1 & 2, as well as eMule. I have had better-than-average luck at finding rare files, and often times I download from 100+ sources at once. It also has many other nice features, like saving your search results. I have a list of 7000+ unique ebooks that I keep around. Whenever I want to read a particular book, I just temporarily filter the results to find it, then download it.

    Hope this helps!

    Clint

  10. participation level by jtilak · · Score: 2, Informative

    high participation level lets you get higher priority in queues. (i.e. you get to cut in line if there are people waiting for a file download) this will allow you to download from more sources and therefore get higher transfer rates. it is to encourage and reward sharing of files.