Kazaa Users Still Don't Get It

[Roadblock]

Source: Our Friends At Slyck (www.slyck.com)
Author: Thomas Mennecke

<blockquote>"Using Kazaa these days is a lot like driving a 1999 Ford Explorer with Firestone tires on a slick road. Being caught at the wrong place at the wrong time can lead to disaster, as witnessed by our latest victim in Germany (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/09/euro_piracy_cases). This time, it is not by the RIAA, but their overseas associates, the IFPI (International Federation for the Phonographic Industry.)

With all the media attention that Kazaa receives, one would think sharing copious amounts of files on the FastTrack network would be unwise. And in almost all cases brought about by the RIAA, the only way they have been able to fine an individual is by sifting through their shared directory.

How? The FastTrack network is not completely decentralized. It uses supernodes to act as temporary indexing servers. These servers operate much like Napster's servers did, with the exception they exist outside the control of the network administrators. Non-supernode users connect to the supernode, and upload a list of their shared files to the supernode.

Even if you disable individuals from viewing your shared directory, the supernode will still receive your shared file list. The RIAA knows this, and simply becomes a supernode and intercepts the shared file list. If you fit the RIAA's profile of 800 plus copyrighted mainstream songs, there is a decent chance you may become the music industry's next victim. So much for the hope of disabling outsiders from viewing your shared directory.

There are only two ways to safely use FastTrack. One is to disable sharing, which will not upload your shared directory to the supernode. However, not sharing goes against the very nature of P2P. The only other safe alternative is to not use FastTrack at all."</blockquote>

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[gbread49]

Good point to know RD...... :) Any Kazaa users listening???????

Just by its design and the way that Kazaa's coding works, a user stands a pretty good chance of getting tagged by the bad people.

But then again, I guess that alot of people still think... "It won't happen to me"..... Yeah right!

IMHO, Kazaa has been the "rotten apple" in the p2p barrel since its conception. There are a few other rotten ones in there too, but Kazaa is the one with the most worms. *L*

[vernarial]

I do still use Kazaa -Lite occasionally. For reasons you both know(speed and availabilty of files). I do however understand the risks and minimize them to the best of my ability by only sharing a certain amount of the more rare files, using a firewall and IP blocker, and only running it when needed. It's just too bad it wasn't a better program from the start. Then we would have the userbase on a better p2p app. It seems like there were only a few viable file sharing programs after napster and AG, and the majority of the people settled on KaZaA at the time, but once people became more educated on how to avoid "The Man", there were several good file sharing programs out there and the community which was somewhat united became scattered into groups using different apps. It just seems that the userbase has not been as strong for any other program since KaZaA. I could be wrong. I'll have to look into how many users are actually on another app at any given time.

[janett999]

i think all the kazaa users should keep useing kazaa,

they should stay loyal to this app!

they should stick with kazaa to the very end, and i hope that anybody that uses kazaa, doesnt use any other P2P app!

[Roadblock]

and i hope that anybody that uses kazaa, doesnt use any other P2P app!

I agree janett. Nothing against people like vern, who are loyal & intelligent KaZaA users, (there aren't many who are in that category unfortunately) but as long as there are more of the other type users using KaZaA, there will be fodder for the RIAA to chew on. That way they will contuinue to think they are winning their stupid little war, and may leave the rest of us (those who have moved on to safer/better networks/applications) to continue our file sharing.

As for the network it's self and the various clients, (KaZaA, Grokster, iMesh, etc) they are their own worst enemies. They are too concerned about making a buck to make any real effort to improve their network, or make it safer and more secure. I say, Screw 'em! ;)