Oh snap, things for Kazaa and the parent company just took a turn for the worst as an Australian court served the company with a "search and seize" order. I'm guessing that's like a search warrant in the US, where the authorities have free reign to go through your stuff looking for evidence linked to a crime. Surprising that this happened as a result of no apparent court case, but who knows if it will cause any long term damage.
posted by mathowie on Feb 6, 2004 - 22 comments

Kazaa Lite K++, the spyware-free version of the popular file-sharing application, was ordered offline yesterday by Kazaa's owner Sharman Networks. On what grounds? Ironically, for copyright infringement. (The K++ downloads are gone from the official site, but the latest version is still mirrored here.)
posted by waxpancake on Dec 6, 2003 - 46 comments

Don't kill p2p because of a few bad eggs Peer-to-peer networks can be used for legal or illegal purposes. So can the telephone, a newspaper or a church's bulletin board. People are responsible for their own actions and there are laws designed to prosecute people for illegal actions.
The legal uses of P2P are rarely heard, because they are not 'sexy' or political. P2P allows artists and listeners to connect directly. The proliferation of unique works created and distributed on the Internet is staggering.(not the best letter to the editor, but the best I could find)

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Ok, so in theory, p2p apps can be used for purposes other than downloading coprighted music and porn. But seriously, does anyone actually use it for legitimate purposes? What do you search for on Kazaa/Gnutella/BitTorrent that is useful, legal, and interesting?
posted by mecran01 on Sep 16, 2003 - 42 comments

The RIAA hit list. Are you sued or not? I would have thought defaultuser@kazaa would get targeted.
posted by srboisvert on Jul 23, 2003 - 44 comments

How to not get caught downloading from Kazaa. Download Kazaa Lite 2.1.0. Delete your old kazaa through add/remove. After installing, go to Options-More Options and check prevent other users from getting a list of all your files. You will still be able to share your files, but people cant see an entire list of the files you are sharing! Brought to you by the same people who made Quicktime Alternative, the alternative quicktime codec that doesn't require bloatware.
posted by Keyser Soze on Jul 2, 2003 - 40 comments

Justice for Consumers "The owners of the KaZaA file-sharing network are suing the movie and recording industries, claiming that they don't understand the digital age and are monopolizing entertainment." Quote from article by Associated Press. I don't about you but I'm sick and tired of big businesses writing all the new laws in this country. Now maybe the people can get some justice for a change.
posted by tljenson on Jan 28, 2003 - 21 comments

Music compact disc distributors, retailers settle price fixing suit. But they're still busting our chops for downloading MP3s. This is ammo to Kazaa or WinMX the SOBs into submission, I say. What share of this cash will actually benefit consumers? By the way, part of the press release at the AG's site may be cut off. It's the bottom of the first page: Today’s settlement has three major components: 1. Sales Practice Changes. Defendants have agreed to an injunction preventing them from forcing retailers to increase CD prices and encouraging price competition between them.
posted by stevefromsparks on Sep 30, 2002 - 7 comments

Kazaa to RIAA; "Catch us if you can!" Although I was initially skeptical, it seems as though Kazaa's decentralized system is proving to be a problem for the RIAA. With Napster, it seemed like they caved almost immediately. What I'm wondering is, does Kazaa actually have a change at establishing some sort of favourable ruling concerning file-trading / P2P? I know it's probably too early to tell, but speculation makes for great conversation some times.
posted by Dark Messiah on Sep 25, 2002 - 15 comments

Kazaa and related filesharing companies are breathing their last breath [nytimes link, reg required] as legal fees overwhelm the "start up" companies. the riaa again seems to be succeeding in shutting down file sharing companies by simply tying them up in court for so long that their funds dry up. but, as the 2nd generation of filesharing goes the way of napster hope rises in the rumors that the technology behind kazaa and others has been sold.
posted by sixtwenty3dc on May 23, 2002 - 8 comments

I've been using Kazaa for about a year, but yesterday it spewed out a 30 second audio advertisement for a casino that you couldn't stop, and couldn't get rid of. Quite apart from getting me in deep piles of poo with my boss, surely this is going too far? Audio adverts you can't do anything about - maybe it is time to move on...
posted by wibbler on May 14, 2002 - 35 comments

Kazaa lite (read: "sans spyware"). An alternative for kazaa users concerned with recent findings, and don't want to bother with spyware sniffers.
hacked product? or justified option?
via wired
posted by RubiX^3 on Apr 19, 2002 - 26 comments

Brillian Digital has quietly attached its software to Kazaa and plans to remotely "turn on" people’s PCs, welding them into a new network. CEO sez a pop-up box will give people a chance to turn it off. Users who've accept "terms of service" already distributed with Brilliant’s and Kazaa’s software are already agreeing to let their computers be used without any payment at all.
posted by ao4047 on Apr 2, 2002 - 27 comments

Morpheus is broken. The Netherlands-based provider of the technology used by Kazaa and Grokster upgrades their system, but leaves out Streamcast Networks' (formerly Music City) Morpheus network, and suddenly, everyone is locked out. Kinda punches a giant hole in their EFF-backed battle with the RIAA, which hinges on the assertion that their network is 'decentralized' and impossible to stop.
posted by pzarquon on Feb 28, 2002 - 12 comments

Kazaa asks users to accept new terms and conditions when logging on. Anyone know of any hidden pitfalls to the t&c's? Am I going to get visits from the police?
posted by wibbler on Feb 4, 2002 - 15 comments

Kazaa halts downloading at least until a court decision. Does this really matter, as you're only blocking distribution of the client from the kazaa site. The "servers" still run, and people can still download the client from any other site.
posted by milnak on Jan 18, 2002 - 18 comments

Kazaa is the most robust peer-to-peer application I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. Among its innovations are multi-sourced downloads, automatic resume, searching by genre (and other metadata), and "supernodes." And it's getting big fast. 54,214 users online as I type this, sharing 22,250GB of files. (Sorry, Windows only.)
posted by waxpancake on May 12, 2001 - 25 comments