Mercury News | 09/04/2002 | Napster goes unmourned to the grave
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Sep 5, 2002
LONDON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Like so many one-hit wonders before it, the demise of the once iconic online song-swapping service Napster has failed to stir much sympathy. ``Really, who cares?'' Sebastian, a student at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, told Reuters as he heard that Napster would likely be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation as early as Thursday. ``Everybody's moved on to other file-sharing (services). The interest for Napster in the Internet community just wasn't as high as everybody originally thought,'' said the 28-year old student of IT engineering.

Recording, movie industries sue Napster progeny - Computerworld
Published in Computer World - Indexed on Aug 13, 2002
Having successfully forced file-sharing rogue Napster Inc. into compliance with copyright laws, the Recording Industry Association of America Inc. (RIAA), along with the major Hollywood studios, is now launching attacks against popular file-swapping services MusicCity, KaZaA, Morpheus and Grokster, an RIAA representative confirmed today. "We cannot sit idly by while these services continue to operate illegally, especially at a time when new legitimate services are being launched," said Hilary Rosen, the RIAA's president and CEO, in a statement.

Update: Grokster has created a Trojan-free installer as of January 1, 2002. If you installed a previous version of this program, fear you have a Trojan horse, or want mor
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Aug 9, 2002
Update: Grokster has created a Trojan-free installer as of January 1, 2002. If you installed a previous version of this program, fear you have a Trojan horse, or want more information, go to Symantec. File-swappers familiar with KaZaA and Morpheus will instantly recognize Grokster, the latest peer-to-peer (P2P) application built on FastTrack technology. All three file-sharing programs look and function the same way, access the same network, and even encourage users to share their own music, movies, and other creations. But unlike KaZaA and Morpheus, Grokster plans to promote unsigned bands and independent artists.

Peer-to-peer networking companies and the music industry prepare for a new round of legal battles over sharing online music files.
Published in ABC News.com - Indexed on Jun 26, 2002
Since the shutdown of Napster last year, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been chasing after companies that offer so-called peer-to-peer networking technology. The RIAA has sued companies such as KaZaa BV, AudioGalaxy, and Streamcast, claiming that the companies knowingly aid and contribute to copyright infringement. And so far, the music industry Goliath is claiming ground, winning legal cases on its way to conquering even the most well-known file-sharing companies including Streamcast Network's Morpheus program.

New sites take over where Napster left off By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY Despite the music industry's legal victory last year over free song-swapping service Napster, a new
Published in USA TODAY - Indexed on Jun 25, 2002
"We don't want to live in a world where piracy is rampant, but we don't want to live in a world where there's absolute control by corporations," says Justin Hughes, an expert on intellectual property and Internet law at UCLA. Legal issues differ The music industry's own paid subscription services have foundered, at least partly because of the free offerings. In the biggest lawsuit, music and movie studios are suing three of the largest file-swapping services KaZaA, Morphius and Grokster in federal court in Los Angeles. Unlike Napster, the new services are profitable, or nearly so, thanks to advertising sales.

smh.com.au - Technology
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald - Indexed on Jun 13, 2002
A multitude of companies may be spying on your computer - and you, writes Nathan Taylor. You may not know it, but you could be lending spare computer power to a new software company in the United States. A viral program, Altnet (formerly known as Brilliant Digital), is covertly installed with recent versions of popular file sharing software KaZaA, along with several other file sharing programs. Altnet uses the spare processing power of the host computer for the company's own ends. That is, it can hijack a user's spare processing power for use by the company, with the user being none the wiser.

Media pirates dodge copyright rules -DAWN - International; 07 June, 2002
Published in Pakistani Dawn - Indexed on Jun 8, 2002
LOS ANGELES: From the Middle East to the South Pacific, renegade online movie and music services are setting up shop in far-off lands to dodge international copyright rules. The manoeuvring complicates efforts by Hollywood studios, record labels and other copyright holders to clamp down on online piracy, which is eating into profits and threatening the entertainment industry's way of doing business. Although the unauthorized movie and music sites don't match the quality of DVDs and CDs, they offer goods at rock-bottom prices and beat their authorized competitors to the market. Film88.

Kazaa Creators Say Lawsuits Too Costly To Continue
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on May 24, 2002
In a document filed with a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California last week, lawyers for the Dutch company once called Consumer Empowerment BV served notice that they weren't going to participate in the latest legal jockeying in the case "due to financial constraints." "Simply put, the (entertainment companies) have run Kazaa out of business," the lawyers told Judge Stephen Wilson.

Kazaa Creators Say Lawsuits Too Costly To Continue - Update
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on May 24, 2002
In a document filed with a U.S. District Court for the Central District of California last week, lawyers for the Dutch company once called Consumer Empowerment BV served notice that they weren't going to participate in the latest legal jockeying in the case "due to financial constraints." "Simply put, the (entertainment companies) have run Kazaa out of business," the lawyers reported to the federal court.

Contra Costa Times | 05/16/2002 | Napster successors doing fine
Published in BayArea.com - Indexed on May 17, 2002
Posted on Thu, May. 16, 2002 Napster successors doing fine Sites such as Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster have managed to succeed where their once-popular predecessor failed By Jon Healey LOS ANGELES TIMES Music industry arch-nemesis Napster Inc. is dying for lack of cash, but don't expect the online media-sharing systems that followed to meet the same fate any time soon. Morpheus, Kazaa, Grokster and other file-sharing networks have done something Napster never managed to do: turn huge audiences into cash.

Music industry arch-nemesis Napster Inc. is dying for lack of cash, but a new generation of companies that also allow legions of home pirates to swap music is thriving in
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on May 17, 2002
Music industry arch-nemesis Napster Inc. is dying for lack of cash, but a new generation of companies that also allow legions of home pirates to swap music is thriving in its aftermath. Morpheus, Kazaa, Grokster and other networks that allow users to trade music files have done something Napster never did: convert a huge following of users into a cash-producing enterprise. Night or day, more than 2.6 million computers are connected to the new networks. Advertisers are flocking to support the new networks and underwrite their growth, though Hollywood studios, record labels and music publishers say they're a global swap meet for pirates.

LOOSE WIRE -- May 23, 2002( free access )
Published in Far Eastern Economic Review - Indexed on May 16, 2002
In my crew-cut schooldays I pirated all my music via the sophisticated method of stuffing a microphone in front of a radio and shushing anyone with the audacity to stroll past. Nowadays, of course, it's really easy. You can make a perfect copy of a CD, convert a CD to a computer file in a heavily compressed format called MP3, and stuff your hard disk so full of pirated MP3 tracks you'll be 60 by the time you get around to listening to them all. No wonder the record companies are having conniptions. But are things really so bad? First, the lie of the land for those of you not paying attention.

Hackers turn tables on file-swapping firms
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Apr 26, 2002
The record companies had their Napster, and the stream of file-swapping companies that followed. The file-swapping companies now have their "Dr. Damn." For the past several weeks, the pseudonymous programmer, who says he's a male college student and declines to give his real name, has been releasing versions of popular file-swapping programs online with the advertising and user-tracking features stripped out. He's done Grokster and iMesh. And he's not alone.

BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Mar 30, 2002
Embattled Internet song- and movie-swappers were given new hope Thursday by a Dutch court ruling protecting the legality of popular file-trading software. In a surprise decision, an appeals court in the Netherlands overturned a lower court ruling that had held file-trading company Kazaa BV liable for copyright infringement, saying Kazaa is not responsible for the illegal actions of people using its software. That decision--which still can be appealed to a higher court--was the first anywhere to protect a file-swapping company against copyright liability.

A federal appeals panel Monday gave record and film companies another piece of ammunition in their fight against online piracy, upholding a lower court order that shut do
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on Mar 30, 2002
A federal appeals panel Monday gave record and film companies another piece of ammunition in their fight against online piracy, upholding a lower court order that shut down Napster Inc.'s free song-sharing service. The ruling has little impact on Redwood City-based Napster, which has abandoned its free service in favor of one that pays labels and songwriters for each song copied. But lawyers for the music industry say it could rein in other online systems, including Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster. The implication of the U.S.

Recording, movie industries sue Napster progeny | Computerworld News & Features Story
Published in Computer World - Indexed on Mar 23, 2002
"We cannot sit idly by while these services continue to operate illegally, especially at a time when new legitimate services are being launched," said Hilary Rosen, the RIAA's president and CEO, in a statement. Yesterday, the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed suit for copyright infringement against MusicCity.com Inc.; MusicCity Networks Inc., which operates Morpheus; Grokster Ltd.; and Consumer Empowerment BV, also known as FastTrack, operator of the KaZaA service, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. None of the defendants were immediately available for comment Wednesday.

DallasNews.com | Dallas-Fort Worth | Business: Technology
Published in Dallas Morning News - Indexed on Mar 8, 2002
By DOUG BEDELL / The Dallas Morning News Morpheus, leader of the post-Napster file-sharing world, has spent the last week battling several demons. It is now back up and running on a "Preview Edition" of its popular software, but it has withdrawn from the vaunted FastTrack-KaZaA coalition. Together, KaZaA, Morpheus and Grokster had created a network that neared or even exceeded the size of Napster at its peak. People using any of the three programs could search all connected computers for shared music files. Morpheus (www.musiccity.

Gnutella: File-Sharing Haven
Published in Wired - Indexed on Mar 7, 2002
FastTrack operates differently than Gnutella, said Adam Fisk, a Gnutella developer. Basically, FastTrack has some components that are centralized, allowing the company to deny certain people entry into its network. Hence, the Morpheus problem. Gnutella, on the other hand, is an open protocol available to anyone, anywhere. There is no central hub that can be used to deny entry. The change to Gnutella wasn't without its problems. Traffic nearly quadrupled on the open-source network, causing Gnutella's system to shut down for some, and become annoyingly slow for others. But those problems are on the way to being solved.

InformationWeek > Online Music Sharing > Betamax Defense Won't Cut It For Music-Swapping Site Operators > March 5, 2002
Published in InformationWeek - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
A judge won't throw out a copyright lawsuit and sets a trial date for early fall. By Sandra Swanson The operators of free music-swapping sites Morpheus, Kazaa, and Grokster had hoped a defunct technology--Betamax--could help them avoid a copyright lawsuit from the music and movie industries. They argued that they couldn't be held responsible if people employed their peer-to-peer file-sharing software for purposes other than "substantial, non-infringing use"--that is, to swap Britney Spears songs rather than the latest numbers from local garage bands.

Betamax Defense Won't Cut It For Music-Swapping Site Operators
Published in InformationWeek - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
Betamax Defense Won't Cut It For Music-Swapping Site Operators A judge won't throw out a copyright lawsuit and sets a trial date for early fall. By Sandra Swanson, InformationWeek Mar 5, 2002 (12:00 AM) URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020305S0011 The operators of free music-swapping sites Morpheus, Kazaa, and Grokster had hoped a defunct technology--Betamax--could help them avoid a copyright lawsuit from the music and movie industries.

Morpheus Boosts Gnutella, But Leaves Users Wanting More
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
On Friday, StreamCast - formerly known as MusicCity - released what it called a "Preview Edition" of a new Morpheus based on the open-source Windows client for Gnutella known as Gnucleus. Millions of Morpheus users, who earlier in the week had been cut off from the peer-to-peer network they shared with users of the Kazaa and Grokster applications, raced to download the new version. Bailey said that, on average, some 353,000 users were logged on to the Gnutella network over the weekend, an increase of 288 percent over the March 1 average of 91,000.

Kazaa Says Servers 'Attacked,' Denies Role In Morpheus Woes
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
"Sharman Networks' technical team discovered that the Kazaa.com Web site was being bombarded by hundreds of thousands of HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) requests, and our HTTP logs indicate that these requests were referred by the (Morpheus) ad server." On Friday, StreamCast Networks - formerly MusicCity - of Franklin, Tenn., claimed that separate "attacks" had been launched against its network, one of them disconnecting its users from the peer-to-peer network shared by Morpheus, Kazaa and a third application, Grokster.

A judge won't throw out a copyright lawsuit and sets a trial date for early fall.
Published in CommWeb - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
InformationWeek 03/05/02, 6:53 p.m. ET The operators of free music-swapping sites Morpheus, Kazaa, and Grokster had hoped a defunct technology--Betamax--could help them avoid a copyright lawsuit from the music and movie industries. They argued that they couldn't be held responsible if people employed their peer-to-peer file-sharing software for purposes other than "substantial, non-infringing use"--that is, to swap Britney Spears songs rather than the latest numbers from local garage bands. But a federal judge disagreed, and on Monday he refused to throw out their case based on the "Betamax defense," setting a trial date for Oct. 1.

Betamax Defense Won't Cut It For Music-Swapping Site Operators
Published in CommWeb - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
Betamax Defense Won't Cut It For Music-Swapping Site Operators By Sandra Swanson, InformationWeek Mar 5, 2002 (3:53 PM) URL: The operators of free music-swapping sites Morpheus, Kazaa, and Grokster had hoped a defunct technology--Betamax--could help them avoid a copyright lawsuit from the music and movie industries. They argued that they couldn't be held responsible if people employed their peer-to-peer file-sharing software for purposes other than "substantial, non-infringing use"--that is, to swap Britney Spears songs rather than the latest numbers from local garage bands.

A range war has broken out in the wild, wild West of online file-swapping, with two of the most popular --and arguably illegal -- services battling publicly over users.
Published in Chicago Tribune - Indexed on Mar 6, 2002
A range war has broken out in the wild, wild West of online file-swapping, with two of the most popular --and arguably illegal -- services battling publicly over users. The battle pits StreamCast Networks' Morpheus, the leading file-sharing system, against Sharman Networks' Kazaa.com, No. 2 but gaining. Once joined by a common software, they're now in splitsville, with Kazaa.com trying to grab Morpheus' users before the latter runs off to another network. Laced with intrigue and finger-pointing, the dispute comes as both services are trying to defend themselves against a copyright infringement lawsuit by the music and movie industries.

Mercury News | 03/04/2002 | Music services' bid to dismiss lawsuit is rebuffed
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Mar 5, 2002
A dispute between online music swapping services resulted in one being knocked offline even as they prepared to face off with entertainment industry adversaries in court. The networks -- Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster -- appeared in federal court Monday to argue that a copyright infringement suit by the music and movie industries should be thrown out. U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson refused to dismiss the most damaging part of the lawsuit brought by 29 studios and record labels -- namely that they contribute to piracy on a global scale. Wilson set an Oct. 1 trial date.

StreamCast Suggests Competitors Torpedoed Morpheus
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Mar 4, 2002
Last week, when Morpheus users began finding themselves locked out of their file-sharing network, StreamCast initially reported that the glitch was the result of an upgrade to a newer version of Kazaa - version 1.5 - by its owners, Australia-based Sharman Networks. "Unfortunately, Kazaa's recent upgrade has made Kazaa's and Grokster's new versions incompatible with Morpheus," StreamCast said in a statement Feb. 26.

A range war has broken out in the wild, wild West of online file-swapping, with two of the most popular--and arguably illegal--services battling publicly over users.
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on Mar 3, 2002
A range war has broken out in the wild, wild West of online file-swapping, with two of the most popular--and arguably illegal--services battling publicly over users. The battle pits StreamCast Networks' Morpheus, the leading file-sharing system, against Sharman Networks' Kazaa.com, No. 2 but gaining. Once joined by a common software, they're now in splitsville, with Kazaa.com trying to grab Morpheus' users before the latter runs off to another network. Laced with intrigue and finger-pointing, the dispute comes as both services are trying to defend themselves against a copyright infringement lawsuit by the music and movie industries.

File-Sharing Could Mean Revenue For Everyone - Kazaa
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Mar 1, 2002
Penned by Philip Corwin of the high-powered Washington law and lobbying firm Butera & Andrews, the Sharman letter followed what the Australian company felt was a roasting for P2P companies in front of Biden's committee Feb. 12. Coinciding with the release of a report titled "Theft of American Intellectual Property: Fighting Crime Abroad and at Home," the committee hearing that kicked off that day looked like a love-in for powerful media and software companies but had no representation from new-technology companies such as Sharman, Corwin wrote.

Morpheus' File-Trading Fiasco
Published in Wired - Indexed on Mar 1, 2002
The Morpheus network, distributed by Nashville's Streamcast Networks and powered by a Dutch technology, went down early Tuesday morning when a software upgrade changed how the system operates. Morpheus, part of an international file-sharing network along with Kazaa and Grokster, had been using version 1.3 of Fast Track, a technology licensed by Consumer Empowerment of the Netherlands. Fast Track turns individual users' hard drives into servers. These networks, called decentralized networks, operate in the same manner as a spider web. If one server is shut down, other servers allow data to continue to flow.

Morpheus' File-Trading Fiasco
Published in Wired - Indexed on Mar 1, 2002
If RIAA is correct, the shutdown could have long-term ramifications for international copyright law. The Morpheus network, distributed by Nashville's Streamcast Networks and powered by a Dutch technology, went down early Tuesday morning when a software upgrade changed how the system operates. Morpheus, part of an international file-sharing network along with Kazaa and Grokster, had been using version 1.3 of Fast Track, a technology licensed by Consumer Empowerment of the Netherlands. Fast Track turns individual users' hard drives into servers. These networks, called decentralized networks, operate in the same manner as a spider web.

BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Feb 27, 2002
Morpheus--a file-swapping service that many have said would be impossible for courts to shut down--shuts out most of its users, citing "technical problems." StreamCast Networks' Morpheus--a file-swapping service that many have said would be impossible for courts to shut down--shut out most of its users Tuesday, citing "technical problems." Computer users trying to log on to the service were greeted with a message telling them to upgrade their software to connect, although no newer version of the software was available. The outage immediately sparked a huge increase in traffic on alternative file-swapping services, such as Gnutella.

If Morpheus Is Illegal, So Is The Rest Of The Net - EFF
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Feb 27, 2002
The EFF agreed in November to defend Nashville, Tenn.-based StreamCast Networks, formerly known as MusicCity and the company behind Morpheus. Grokster, which distributes file-sharing software bearing its name and reports headquarters on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis is being defended by Keker & Van Nest. Also accused in the lawsuits of contributing to copyright infringement on a massive scale is Consumer Empowerment BV of the Netherlands, which originally created the FastTrack P2P technology and the Kazaa media player that uses it.

BW Online | February 21, 2002 | Napster's Sons: Singing a Different Tune?
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Feb 23, 2002
That's good news for fans who use it to trade about 1 billion files -- including MP3 music files, software titles, and even pirated movies -- a day. But it's more bad news for the entertainment and software industries. The music business is watching retail sales plummet as illegal music-swapping continues to skyrocket. In 2000, music sales dropped 9.3%, from $869.7 million to $788 million. Total revenues slipped 2.3%, from $13 billion to $12.7 billion. The entertainment industry is not standing idly by.

BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Feb 7, 2002
A Taiwanese Web site is offering hundreds of videos on demand for just $1 each, trumping Hollywood's plans to deliver similar services and raising the specter of a new round of international copyright battles. Despite claims that their Movie88 site is following all local copyright laws, the owners of this new venture are drawing scrutiny from a skeptical Hollywood. Meanwhile, Web surfers drawn by free or cut-rate movies are flocking to the site, overloading servers and clogging data pipes.

New Zealand News - Technology - Two cheers for new Napster and its fees
Published in New Zealand Herald - Indexed on Jan 26, 2002
Free music is still with us but if the new Napster takes off fans may have to dip into their pockets to maintain choice. PETER GRIFFIN reports. "So how many of you download songs illegally over the internet?" It would have been a great question to ask from the main stage of last Friday's Big Day Out concert at Ericsson Stadium. Out of the mouths of nu-metallers System of a Down or synth-pop kings New Order, both of whom are well represented on renegade file swapping services such as Gnutella and Grokster, it would have been greeted one of two ways - with a rebellious roar of approval or guilty silence.

Judge Asked To Rule That Morpheus Cannot Be Banned
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Jan 25, 2002
Much like the ongoing Napster case, the entertainment industry argues that codefendants in this suit - Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster - encourage copyright infringement by enabling users to swap songs and movies online without paying for them. Further, and contrary to claims by the P2P companies that they cannot control networks created when people the software, the industry groups say Music City and Consumer Empowerment exert significant control over their P2P networks. In filing their motion for a summary judgment with U.S. district court Judge Stephen V. Wilson on behalf of Music City - the only U.S.

TechTV | KaZaA Suspends Downloads Pending Court Ruling
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Jan 18, 2002
KaZaA has suspended downloads of its popular software, which lets users trade songs online, pending a decision in a copyright lawsuit filed against it in a Dutch court, the Internet company said Thursday. "Download of the KaZaA Media desktop software is temporarily and voluntarily suspended pending Dutch court decision on January 31," the Amsterdam-based company said in a message on its website. In late November, a Dutch judge ruled that KaZaA must stop its users sharing copyright music files. KaZaA has built its service with software from Netherlands-based FastTrack.

KaZaA Suspends Downloads Pending Dutch Court Ruling (1/17/2002)
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Jan 18, 2002
Posted at 12:25 p.m. PST Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002 KaZaA suspends downloads pending Dutch court ruling LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Internet company KaZaA BV on Thursday said it suspended downloads of its popular software that lets users trade songs online pending a decision in a copyright lawsuit filed against it in a Dutch court. ``Download of the KaZaA Media desktop software is temporarily and voluntarily suspended pending Dutch court decision on January 31,'' the Amsterdam-based company said in a message on its Web site at (http://www.kazaa.com).

HoustonChronicle.com
Published in Houston Chronicle - Indexed on Jan 18, 2002
LOS ANGELES - Internet company KaZaA BV on Thursday said it suspended downloads of its popular software that lets users trade songs online pending a decision in a copyright lawsuit filed against it in a Dutch court. "Download of the KaZaA Media desktop software is temporarily and voluntarily suspended pending Dutch court decision on January 31," the Amsterdam-based company said in a message on its Web site at (www.kazaa.com). In late November, a Dutch judge ruled in a court case - which has upped the ante for copyright abuse online - that KaZaA must stop its users sharing copyrighted music files.

HoustonChronicle.com
Published in Houston Chronicle - Indexed on Jan 18, 2002
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Technology News Jan. 17, 2002, 4:20PM KaZaA suspends file-trading pending Dutch ruling Reuters News Service LOS ANGELES - Internet company KaZaA BV on Thursday said it suspended downloads of its popular software that lets users trade songs online pending a decision in a copyright lawsuit filed against it in a Dutch court. "Download of the KaZaA Media desktop software is temporarily and voluntarily suspended pending Dutch court decision on January 31," the Amsterdam-based company said in a message on its Web site at (www.kazaa.com).

Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing h
Published in CNN - Indexed on Jan 6, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery. The game is free, though users must first view an advertisement.

HoustonChronicle.com
Published in Houston Chronicle - Indexed on Jan 6, 2002
Jan. 5, 2002, 7:37PM Covert tracker shared more than just files By ANICK JESDANUN Associated Press NEW YORK -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin.

Music software tracked users' Web habits NEW YORK (AP) Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwitt
Published in USA TODAY - Indexed on Jan 6, 2002
up for Tech’s free e-mail newsletter Search USA TODAY for earlier stories on this subject NEW YORK (AP) Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits.The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology.The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin.

Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing h
Published in CNN - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
NEW YORK (AP) -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery. The game is free, though users must first view an advertisement.

Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing h
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
NEW YORK -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster, and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery. The game is free, though users must first view an advertisement.

Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing h
Published in Los Angeles Times - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
NEW YORK -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software without the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results of the Pennsylvania Lottery. The game is free, though users must first view an advertisement.

File-sharing software users unknowingly accepted tracking program (1/04/2002)
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
File-sharing software users unknowingly accepted tracking program NEW YORK (AP) -- Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery.

Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing h
Published in Chicago Tribune - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster, and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery. The game is free, though users must first view an advertisement.

AP Technology Story
Published in Austin American Statesman - Indexed on Jan 5, 2002
Program Spies on Software Users By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer NEW YORK (AP)--Thousands of Internet users who installed popular software for sharing music and other computer files also unwittingly accepted a program that tracked their Web surfing habits. The companies that produce LimeWire, Grokster, and KaZaA have since posted new versions of their software, absent the tracking program. LimeWire's maker also issued an apology. The tracking program in question links Internet users to an online sweepstakes game, ClickTillUWin. Players pick numbers and win cash prizes based on results in the Pennsylvania Lottery.

TechTV | Trojan Horse Hides in File-Swapping Sites
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Jan 4, 2002
Two popular file-swapping sites have been unknowingly spreading a Trojan horse that sends user information such as IDs and IP addresses to a third party. The Trojan, called "W32.DIDer," is installed on a user's computer as part of the normal installation process for Grokster and LimeWire -- two freeware apps that emulate Napster's file-swapping capabilities. A Trojan horse is a destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Although Trojan horses do not replicate themselves like viruses, they can be just as destructive. The two companies said they were duped and had no idea their software contained the malicious application.

PCWorld.com - Peer-to-Peer Apps Shared Trojan Horse
Published in PC World - Indexed on Jan 4, 2002
"spyware" software that was installed even if the user opted not to accept it, the software makers admitted this week. KaZaA, Grokster, and LimeWire, free peer-to-peer (P-to-P) applications used by millions for exchanging files on the Internet, at one point came with a program called ClickTillUWin, a client for an online lottery. This client software contains a Trojan horse program that sends information to its maker, several vendors of antivirus software have warned. A Trojan horse is different from a virus in that it typically doesn't corrupt files or propagate itself.

BW Online | January 3, 2002 | An Unwanted Gift for Free File-Swappers
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Jan 4, 2002
On Dec. 27, he noticed a small program titled "DLDER.exe" on his hard drive. Hurring studied the program and learned that it was associated with a piece of software called "Clicktilluwin" that Grokster had packaged with its basic installer. Trouble was, Clicktilluwin is supposedly an optional piece of online-sweepstakes software. Hurring had opted out, but the software had installed anyway against his wishes. That bothered him, as well it should have. Turns out that the persistent piece of software was a Trojan horse -- that is, it appeared to be one thing but in reality was another.

Music Sharing Programs Share Advertiser's 'Trojan' Spyware
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Jan 3, 2002
Anti-virus firms such as Symantec and F-Secure say that software that was billed as installing desktop shortcuts for a promotion called ClickTillUWin also secretly installed a Trojan program that later downloaded and installed additional software - the actual spyware - from a remote Web server. Some anti-virus software, such as Symantec's Norton AntiVirus were reporting labeling the ClickTillUWin software as "Backdoor.Trojan" before Dec. 29, when the security companies began updating their virus definitions to give the strange code its own moniker: DlDer.

File-sharing programs carry Trojan horse
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Jan 3, 2002
Popular file-sharing programs Grokster and Limewire are privacy time bombs, say computer experts who found "spyware" bundled with the downloads. A pair of popular file-sharing programs have become privacy time bombs, according to computer experts. Antivirus company Symantec last week reported the presence of "spyware" bundled with Grokster and Limewire, two popular file-swapping downloads. The code evidently does not damage computers, but it surreptitiously sends personal information such as user ID names and the Internet address of computers to another Web address.

CNET.com - News - Investor - News - Story
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Jan 3, 2002
Advertising software called "Clicktilluwin" that comes bundled with the file-swapping programs carries a program called "W32.DIDer," which Symantec has classified as a Trojan horse--a piece of code that takes over parts of a person's computer unseen in order to carry out its own instructions. Although unrelated advertising programs are routinely bundled with free file-swapping programs--and have prompted some user criticism in the past--this appears to be the first time one of them has included a program classified as a Trojan horse by security experts.

Popular file-sharing programs Grokster and Limewire are privacy time bombs, say computer experts who found spyware bundled with the downloads.
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Jan 3, 2002
A pair of popular file-sharing programs have become privacy time bombs, according to computer experts. Antivirus company Symantec last week reported the presence of "spyware" bundled with Grokster and Limewire, two popular file-swapping downloads. The code evidently does not damage computers, but it surreptitiously sends personal information such as user ID names and the Internet address of computers to another Web address. Advertising software called "Clicktilluwin" that comes bundled with the file-swapping programs carries a program called "W32.

A record number of layoffs and bankruptcies has the technology industry longing for the good old days of maniacal venture capital investment that fed fast-growing compani
Published in Washington Times - Indexed on Dec 31, 2001
Even if you didn't notice it because of the national horror over the September 11 terrorist attacks, the technology industry experienced profound problems throughout the year. Companies that helped drive the economy's rapid growth stalled for the first time. A record number of layoffs and bankruptcies has the technology industry longing for the good old days of maniacal venture capital investment that fed fast-growing companies. Chief executives responded by hiring legions of workers. But investment has slowed dramatically since the halcyon days.

Can the VCR save free music-file sharing? By Greg Wright, Gannett News Service Sony's Betamax videocassette recorder sometimes considered the granddaddy of modern consu
Published in USA TODAY - Indexed on Dec 25, 2001
The Recording Industry Association of America and several movie studios sued MusicCity, KaZaA and Grokster in October for aiding and abetting copyright piracy on the Web. The case will be tried in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles and could last two years. Bridges said he will argue in court that FastTrack, the computer-to-computer file sharing software from Amsterdam that the three companies use, is a new form of consumer electronics technology, just like VCRs were 20 years ago. He hopes to persuade U.S.

Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline, the operator of the popular file-swapping network is still negotiating to keep its service alive.
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Dec 21, 2001
By Jasper Koning HILVERSUM, Netherlands--Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline to institute anti-piracy controls, the operator of Kazaa, a popular file-swapping network, is continuing to negotiate with copyright holders over its fate. In a decision last month, Judge Orobio de Castro told the network to block customers from trading illegal files by Dec. 13 or pay a $45,000 a day fine. As of now, however, the service has not altered its business practices, company attorney Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm said Thursday. The service was developed by Netherlands-based FastTrack.

Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline, the operator of the popular file-swapping network is still negotiating to keep its service alive.
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Dec 21, 2001
HILVERSUM, Netherlands--Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline to institute anti-piracy controls, the operator of Kazaa, a popular file-swapping network, is continuing to negotiate with copyright holders over its fate. In a decision last month, Judge Orobio de Castro told the network to block customers from trading illegal files by Dec. 13 or pay a $45,000 a day fine. As of now, however, the service has not altered its business practices, company attorney Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm said Thursday. The service was developed by Netherlands-based FastTrack.

BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Dec 21, 2001
Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline to institute anti-piracy controls, the operator of Kazaa, a popular file-swapping network, continues to negotiate with copyright holders over its fate. By Jasper Koning HILVERSUM, Netherlands--Nearly a week after a court-ordered deadline to institute anti-piracy controls, the operator of Kazaa, a popular file-swapping network, is continuing to negotiate with copyright holders over its fate. In a decision last month, Judge Orobio de Castro told the network to block customers from trading illegal files by Dec. 13 or pay a $45,000 a day fine.

PCWorld.com - File-Sharing Services Sued
Published in PC World - Indexed on Dec 20, 2001
operates Morpheus), Grokster, and Consumer Empowerment BV (also known as FastTrack, operator of the KaZaA service) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California late Tuesday. Advertisement None of the defendants were immediately available for comment Wednesday. Swapping Still PopularLike Napster, the services covered in the suit allow users to swap content, including copyright-protected music and movies, for free via their networks.

New Zealand News - Technology - Free music hits wrong chord with industry
Published in New Zealand Herald - Indexed on Dec 12, 2001
By CHRIS BARTON Most home use of the internet is for porn, right? Apparently not. The number one activity of home users is downloading free music. At least that's what a senior internet provider executive told me last week over a glass or two of Christmas cheer. Sucking music down your telephone line to your PC accounts for 38 per cent of home use. Downloading pornography is a distant second at 22 per cent. Latest figures from the United States research firm Webnoize appear to back the claim - showing Napster replacements KaZaA (www.kazaa.com), Grokster (www.grokster.com) and Morpheus's Music City (www.musiccity.

PCWorld.com - Judge Orders Music-Sharing KaZaA to Cease
Published in PC World - Indexed on Dec 12, 2001
software available that allows users to download music files. KaZaA has 14 days to comply with the order. If it doesn't, the company will have to pay $40,000 each day, to a maximum of $500,000, the judge ruled. Advertisement KaZaA is puzzled by the verdict and it doesn't understand exactly what to do, said KaZaA's attorney Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm."Our software can't disappear, it is already out there," he said. "And the minute we take down our Web site, mirrors will appear.

The record industry and Hollywood studios join forces to sue MusicCity, Kazaa and Grokster, which together form one of the most popular file-trading networks in Napster's
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Dec 10, 2001
The source of the software for all three services is a company alternately called FastTrack or Consumer Empowerment, based in Amsterdam. A self-described "virtual organization" of programmers from Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, the company has licensed its file-swapping software to MusicCity--incorporated in Oregon, but headquartered in Tennessee--and the Nevis, West Indies-based Grokster. FastTrack CEO Niklas Zennström also manages Kazaa. The lawsuit targets just these companies.

New Zealand News - Technology - Judge orders halt to use of Napster-like software
Published in New Zealand Herald - Indexed on Dec 3, 2001
Judge orders halt to use of Napster-like software 02.12.2001 By JORIS EVERS AMSTERDAM - The makers of popular file-sharing software KaZaA have to make it impossible for users to continue to share copyright-protected material using the software, or pay a fine for each day the product remains unchanged, a Dutch judge ordered this week.

Kazaa file-swapping service ordered shut down LONDON (Reuters) A Dutch judge has ruled that Internet company Kazaa must stop its users sharing copyrighted music files,
Published in USA TODAY - Indexed on Dec 3, 2001
Kazaa said it cannot prevent users of its software from swapping copyrighted music files, because unlike Napster it is designed to work without a central computer server that tracks the file sharing between its users. "The computer program has already been distributed. Kazaa can't see what sort of files people are sharing or who its users are. We don't really know what the judge wants Kazaa to do," said Kazaa's attorney Christiaan Alberdink Thijm.

CNN.com - Judge orders shut-down of popular Napster-like site - November 30, 2001
Published in CNN - Indexed on Dec 2, 2001
KaZaA is so-called peer-to-peer (P-to-P) software that allows users to search each other's hard drives for files they want and to download those. KaZaA doesn't require a central server to work, unlike Napster, which was shut down when it installed filters on its servers after a legal battle in the U.S. "At trial, we asked the judge to be clear in his verdict if he was going to side with Buma/Stemra. Now we don't know what to do. Should we go door-to-door and ask people to stop using the software? Should we put a notice on our Web site? Whatever we do, it will always lead to a new conflict with Buma/Stemra," Alberdingk Thijm said.

Kazaa To Comply With Order To Halt Illegal File Swaps - CEO
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Dec 2, 2001
The Dutch judge's ruling also obliges Kazaa to reach an agreement with the Amsterdam-based music rights organization Buma/Stemra. Negotiations with the organization should resume within two days, and be completed within 14 days, the judge ruled. Zennstrom did not say how Kazaa would adapt. The CEO's statements seem to contradict a Reuters news service report quoting the company's attorney, Christiaan Alberdink Thijm, saying that Kazaa cannot prevent users from swapping copyrighted music files.

KaZaA says can't comply with Dutch copyright ruling (11/30/2001)
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Dec 1, 2001
LONDON (Reuters) - A Dutch judge has ruled that Internet company KaZaA must stop its users sharing copyrighted music files, but the company said on Friday it could not comply because, unlike Napster, it does not know who its customers are. In a court case which has upped the ante for copyright abuse over the Internet, the Dutch judge also said KaZaA and music publishing rights organisation Buma/Stemra should resume licencing negotiations within two days.

TechTV | KaZaA Says It Can't Comply With Copyright Ruling
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Dec 1, 2001
A Dutch judge has ruled that Internet company KaZaA must stop its users sharing copyright music files, but the company said on Friday it could not comply because, unlike Napster, it does not know who its customers are. In a court case that has upped the ante for copyright abuse over the Internet, the Dutch judge also said KaZaA and music publishing rights organization Buma/Stemra should resume licensing negotiations within two days.

Bangkok Post Friday 23 November 2001 - Mad about M2M
Published in Bangkok Post - Indexed on Nov 23, 2001
Spins .......................................................................................... .... AndrewHiransomboon Mad about M2M Norwegian teen duo set to do Bangkok Though it often doesn't seem like it, there are other options available to the young pop music listener than boy bands and emaciated blondes. One such act that parents can in good conscience recommend to their kids is M2M, the Norwegian teen duo of Marion Raven and Marit Larsen who can actually play instruments and write songs in addition to singing.

Tech news roundup (11/21/2001)
Published in SiliconValley.com - Indexed on Nov 22, 2001
SanDisk plans to offer 1 GB memory card for about $800 SanDisk of Sunnyvale has just introduced the largest solid-state memory card yet for digital cameras and portable MP3 players: a 1-gigabyte (GB) Type I Compact Flash card, due to ship in the first quarter of next year for just under $800. While most digital cameras come with a 8 or 16 megabyte (MB) memory card, and MP3 players might include 32 or 64 MB cards, the 1 GB card from SanDisk (www.sandisk.com) will hold 1,000 images from a typical consumer digital camera, 16 hours of MP3 music, or even several hours of low-resolution video.

Songwriters Sue P2P Music Services
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Nov 22, 2001
The songwriters who penned some of pop music's earliest hits are among the plaintiffs in a copyright infringement lawsuit against three peer-to-peer (P2P) music services, a publishing group said today. MusicCity, Consumer Empowerment BV and Grokster are named in the suit filed at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), which recently signed a pact with song-sharing pioneer Napster. Netherlands-based Consumer Empowerment BV developed the file-sharing technology known as FastTrack, which is part of its own Kazaa, MusicCity's Morpheus and Grokster.

Music publishers file new copyright suit
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Nov 21, 2001
Music publishers file new copyright suit A group representing the owners of most songs published in the United States has filed suits against the parent companies of MusicCity, Grokster and Kazaa. A group representing music publishers and songwriters on Tuesday filed a federal suit against some makers of file-swapping software, marking the latest in a string of legal tangles over copyright infringement on the Internet.

BW Online | November 15, 2001 | Can Morpheus Prevail Where Napster Failed?
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Nov 15, 2001
Not to Steven Griffin, chairman and CEO of Internet startup MusicCity Networks, a Nashville company that allows music and entertainment lovers to share files downloaded from the Web through its program Morpheus. Griffin, the former head of EMI's Christian Music Group, is girding for battle. "I'm like William Wallace," he says, referring to the 13th century Scottish hero who inspired his countrymen to overthrow the English crown. "We've got 32 million people standing behind us. Instead of sticks and rocks, we've got CD burners and PCs.

TheStreet.com
Published in TheStreet.com - Indexed on Nov 8, 2001
LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Napster, the now infamous Internet song-swapping service, may have been grounded by a protracted legal battle, but its legacy lives on. A Dutch start-up technology outfit FastTrack has picked up where Napster left off. Its software has enabled tens of millions of computer users to trade tracks of The Beatles and Britney Spears for free, plus one better: hefty movie files too. Now Niklas Zennstrom, the 35-year-old founder of FastTrack, finds himself in the same position as Napster creator Shawn Fanning. His tiny, year-old company has made a lot of noise in the entertainment industry.

Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the size that the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, was at the height of its popularit
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, at the height of its popularity. Analysis company Webnoize said Monday that the number of digital music files downloaded using Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster jumped 20 percent, increasing to 1.81 billion in October from 1.51 billion files in September. The three applications have their own brands, but they use identical software that lets people tap into the same network of computers. Webnoize also found that 1.

A civil liberties group is building a team of lawyers to show that the suit aimed at MusicCity, Grokster and Kazaa networks is different from Napster's.
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
A prominent civil liberties group is jumping to the aid of MusicCity, a popular file-swapping company confronting a lawsuit from the Hollywood and record industry that could blaze new, influential legal ground. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has represented hackers, cryptographers and computer scientists in its push for digital rights, agreed to defend MusicCity against copyright infringement charges by movie studios and record labels. It's helping build a high-powered team of lawyers to show that this case is different from Napster's. On its face, this lawsuit resembles the one that has silenced Napster since July.

Hollywood-Battling EFF Vows To Aid MusicCity Legal Defense
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
The lawsuit targets peer-to-peer network technology known as FastTrack, but is better known to thousands of file-swappers in its incarnations in such programs as Kazaa, Grokster and MusicCity's Morpheus. Also named in the suit was Consumer Empowerment BV, the Netherlands-based outfit behind both FastTrack and Kazaa; and Grokster Ltd., which lists its headquarters as being on the tiny Caribbean island of Nevis and which distributes the Grokster software. The record companies and Hollywood studios argue that the FastTrack technology is used to exchange illegal digital copies of copyrighted tunes and motion pictures.

The EFF is building a high-powered team of lawyers to show that the suit aimed at MusicCity, Grokster and Kazaa networks is different than Napster.
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
A prominent civil liberties group is jumping to the aid of MusicCity, a popular file-swapping company confronting a lawsuit from the Hollywood and record industry that could blaze new, influential legal ground. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which has represented hackers, cryptographers and computer scientists in its push for digital rights, agreed to defend MusicCity against copyright infringement charges by movie studios and record labels. It's helping build a high-powered team of lawyers to show that this case is different than Napster. On its face, this lawsuit resembles the one that has silenced Napster since July.

TechTV | Use of Alternatives to Napster Rose in October
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
In October, users swapped 1.81 billion media files on Napster-like alternative services such as Kazaa, MusicCity, and Grokster, a research firm said on Monday. Usage of these services has risen since lawsuits forced Napster to shut down in July. Web research firm Webnoize said the October usage levels at these services represent a 20 percent increase over the 1.51 billion files downloaded during September. All three applications use software licensed from FastTrack, an Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer technology company, and share the same network.

Hollywood-Battling EFF Vows To Aid MusicCity Legal Defense
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Nov 7, 2001
Saying that an entertainment industry lawsuit against some of Napster's most-popular successors is an attack on "the freedom of technologists to innovate," the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is to announce today that it has joined the defense team for MusicCity, the company behind file-swapping software known as Morpheus. Tennessee-based MusicCity was one of three companies named in a copyright-infringement complaint filed in a Los Angles federal court Oct. 2 by major recording companies and motion picture studios.

Napster rivals winning popularity contest
Published in Business Week - Indexed on Nov 6, 2001
Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the size that the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, was at the height of its popularity. Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, at the height of its popularity. Consulting firm Webnoize said Monday that the number of digital music files downloaded using Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster jumped 20 percent, increasing to 1.81 billion in October from 1.51 billion files in September.

Webnoize says Internet-site users last month swapped 1.81 billion media files on Napster-alternative services including KaZaA , MusicCity and Grokster -- all of which hav
Published in CNN - Indexed on Nov 6, 2001
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Webnoize says Internet-site users last month swapped 1.81 billion media files on Napster-alternative services including KaZaA , MusicCity and Grokster -- all of which have seen usage rise since Napster shut down in July amid legal pressures. Webnoize, a research firm, says these services' October levels represented a 20-percent increase from the 1.51 billion files downloaded during September. All three applications use software licensed from FastTrack, an Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer technology company. They share the same network.

FastTrack Approaches Napster's Former Popularity - Study
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Nov 6, 2001
That figure represents a 20 percent increase from 1.51 billion files traded in September. Matt Bailey, a Webnoize analyst, said MusicCity and Grokster are standalone companies that license file-sharing technology from FastTrack, a peer-to-peer technology firm based in Amsterdam. FastTrack set up Kazaa to showcase its software. All three companies share the same network, whose popularity is growing exponentially, he added. During October, an average of 1.3 million users were logged on to the FastTrack network at any one time, an increase of 30 percent from the 1 million simultaneous users in September.

Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the size that the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, was at the height of its popularit
Published in CNet News - Indexed on Nov 6, 2001
Alternative file-trading services continue to gain momentum and could soon surpass the granddaddy of song swaps, Napster, at the height of its popularity. Consulting firm Webnoize said Monday that the number of digital music files downloaded using Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster jumped 20 percent, increasing to 1.81 billion in October from 1.51 billion files in September. The three applications have their own brands, but they use identical software that lets people tap into the same network of computers. Webnoize also found that 1.

FastTrack Approaches Napster's Former Popularity - Study
Published in News Bytes - Indexed on Nov 6, 2001
FastTrack Approaches Napster's Former Popularity - Study Napster has been offline since mid-summer and is struggling to put together a marketable subscription product while at the same time, according to a new study, many people are flocking to free peer-to-peer file-swapping alternatives. The study by Webnoize, a company that monitors digital entertainment industries, said Internet users traded 1.81 billion digital media files via the Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster file-sharing applications during October. That figure represents a 20 percent increase from 1.51 billion files traded in September.

TechTV | Music, Movie Firms Target Napster Clones
Published in TechTV - Indexed on Oct 31, 2001
After successfully shutting down file-swap service Scour and stopping music trades on Napster, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have their sights set on three other services that allow users to share music and videos online. The two bodies have filed suit in US District Court for the Central District of California against MusicCity Networks, which operates the Morpheus service; Grokster; and Consumer Empowerment BV (also known as FastTrack), which operates KaZaA. The suit alleges that the services violate copyright laws.