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Kazaa-lite Shut Down

atari2600 writes "Finally it has happened. Zeropaid is reporting that the Kazaalite K++ project has been shutdown by Sharman Networks. The project, which had been set up to block spy and ad ware within the Kazaa Media Desktop Program has achieved notoriety within the P2p world through its simplistic approach and success in reverse engineering the Kazaa application."

13 of 634 comments (clear)

  1. Oh Well, there not the first, there not the last by UltraSkuzzi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think Sharman will be in for a surprise once the find out that 75% of its 'users' were on the bootleged client. It's pretty obvious, those users aren't coming back either. The RIAA has already turned that network to shit with their corrupted songs. I guess we call all move on up to BitTorrent :D

    --

    ~UltraSkuzzi
    This comment is liscensed by SCO.
  2. Re:Still works for me... by jo_ham · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think the problem will stem when Sharman networks changes the protocol slightly for "security" or "usability enhancement" to shut out the K++ client, much like the IM providers do to keep all the decent 3rd party clients guessing.

    No doubt it will be reverse engineered again, but it will be harder to distribute and publicise that fix without a central website. It will still get out though - word of mouth will spread it.

    I think I'll stick to the iTMS (well, when it's finally available for the UK).

  3. Well crap. Help me with a new program by Nemus · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Well, I'm using the program right now, but I've noticed its running reeeeaaaaallllyyyy slow, so maybe a bunch of people are on like the last days of Napster, downloading like crazy. I, however, am in a slight fix.


    See, I live in a dorm, and we're unable to connect to Kazaa here, the network flat out won't let us, with no (legal) way around it. For some reason though, K-Lite still connects. Can someone reccomend a good program to me for all file types? I predominantly download movies, the occasional game to demo it, and sometimes music. And please don't reccomend iMesh. I don't know if I could have intentionally installed that much spyware on my computer. I strongly doubt they have anything of the GNU variety blocked, but there are so many GNU P2P programs I don;t know which one to get. Noobish question I'm sure, but any advice is appreciated.

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  4. Re:Oh Well, there not the first, there not the las by MikeCapone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I guess we can all move on up to BitTorrent :D

    BitTorrent is too centralized for this kind of things (large scale, anyway).

    Instead, check out eMule and Soulseek.

  5. Re:DietK by p0rnking · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At the bottom of one of the articles about K++'s shutdown, is a link for Diet K (http://www.dietk.com/).
    Since the site doesn't really say too much about it, has anyone ever used it?

  6. Hmmmm curious... by MoeMoe · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just took a look at the Kazaa Lite homepage and found a new app on the list I haven't seen since my last check a few weeks ago.... It seems "Soul Seek" (that name bothers me) is the replacement they are now offering... One catch, IT'S A CENTRAL SERVER! So why hasn't the RIAA ran after this?

    <conspiracy mode=1>

    Maybe the RIAA has paid off the makers of K++ and made this new "app" as a honeypot for people to use instead so to collect data on users who request songs that are copyrighted... What kept K++ anonymous was its decentralized system, why would the RIAA not go after something that is directly hosting copyrighted files? Unless some news about the RIAA going after Soul Seek comes up, I am gonna steer clear of it...

    <conspiracy mode=0>

    --
    Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
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  7. Re:I DON'T CARE -- I BUY MUSIC LATELY by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My main usage for P2P is still to sample songs from an artist. It used to be radio was the way to do so. With the radio playlists being controlled so heavily by a few companies. And those companies (Clear Channel, etc) in bed with the recording industry how do we as consumers get to listen to new artists that we might enjoy rather than what the industry wants me to buy? I stopped listening to the radio years ago because my musical tastes did not revolve around gangster rap or boy bands or female teenage pop sensations. So when I get a recommendation from my friends, I find the song. If I like it, I buy the album. If not, I delete the song. Others may not be as moral, but like most things in life, it's how you use something, not the item itself that really determines its value.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  8. Re:Was forbidden anyway by Ateryx · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Try a DC++ hub w/ 900+ users and growing at a large Midwest campus, utilizing the Resident Halls network. I hoesntly don't know what I'll do when I leave I've become so addicted to 1.2 mb/s downloads.

    On a side note, my best friend the sys admin for the hub was shut down because in a month he had uploaded roughly 1.5 tera of data. His friend and insider in the networking department looked up his file and found the following note:

    "DO NOT RE-CONNECT WITHOUT FIRST TALKING TO B_______ E_______ FIRST! This is the most flagrant misuse of network reasorces I have ever seen in my career."

    Needless to say we framed it and put it on the wall.

    --
    "The truth suffers from too much analysis"
  9. The end of albums by jaaron · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The problem with your argument is that most people don't want to download all the songs on an album- they only want a few. To download 2 or 3 good songs off of an album at high quality (192kbps+) still takes less time than it would to get in your car and drive to the store. And it is also infinitely cheaper.

    Funny you should say that because there was a USA Today article in today's newspaper that discussed the implications of a single song music market, ie- the end of the album. There are still some artists who produce albums as an artistic whole, not just a bunch of singles, but as a complete artistic statement. The fear is that if the per song market becomes dominent, that the art of albums will consequently suffer.

    Definitely some interesting thoughts to consider. I've been on both sides of the fence. I've bought albums that I thought, "Wow, the rest of this sucks." and I've also bought albums and thought, "Wow, I'm so glad I have all of this, it rocks!".

    --
    Who said Freedom was Fair?
    1. Re:The end of albums by glesga_kiss · · Score: 4, Interesting
      There are still some artists who produce albums as an artistic whole, not just a bunch of singles, but as a complete artistic statement. The fear is that if the per song market becomes dominent, that the art of albums will consequently suffer

      Yeah, but they aren't the ones that'll be impacted by the single song download market. It'll be your Britney (et al) CDs with 2-3 "good" tracks and the rest filler.

      Besides. How hard is it to search for a zip/rar of the whole album anyway?

  10. Re:Don't worry by hendridm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I would love it if Sharman blocked downloads of its signature :D

    You know, how the whole P2P industry claims that they don't have control over their content, and that it's really a medium intended for legal distribution. Heh.

  11. Re:I DON'T CARE -- I BUY MUSIC LATELY by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So when I get a recommendation from my friends, I find the song. If I like it, I buy the album. If not, I delete the song. Others may not be as moral, but like most things in life, it's how you use something, not the item itself that really determines its value.

    Right... And what if the artist doesn't want you to sample the song on Kazaa? You're amazing. You're more moral than I am because you only do it a little? Nonsense. Either copying without permission of the copyright holder is moral, or it's immoral. Personally I say it's moral. Actually, personally I say it's immoral to pay those bastards at the RIAA money when you could be donating it to charity or using it to make this world better. But hey, that's just me.

  12. Re:DietK by JThundley · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've used DietK before I used Kazaa Lite, and it is very awesome. It achieves the same effect as Kazaa Lite, but instead goes on top of regular Kazaa. Give it a spin!

    I do however, still recommend GiFT and Apollon for P2P, it's simply the best.