PEER 2 PEER

2008-11-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

LimeWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, which uses the Gnutella network to locate and share files. Released under the GNU General Public License, Limewire is free software. It also encourages the user to pay a fee, which will then give the user access to LimeWire Pro.

This software is available for free at www.limewire.com..

Features

Written in the Java programming language, LimeWire is able to run on any computer with Java Virtual Machine installed. Installers are provided for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Support for Mac OS 9 and other previous versions was dropped with the release of LimeWire 4.0.10.

Limewire offers the sharing of its library through Digital Audio Access Protocol. As such, when LimeWire is running, any files shared will be detectable on the local network by DAAP-enabled devices (eg. iTunes)
.

Limitations

LimeWire limits queries to 3 - 30 characters. This is to prohibit searches for specific files. This limitation also means that the network will return more results than necessary.

LimeWire doesn't forward SHA1 searches. SHA1 searches find exact copies of files. Magnet links use SHA1 searches. SHA1 searches can also be used to find more sources for a download.

LimeWire uses SHA-1 and tiger tree hash cryptographic hash functions to ensure that downloaded data is uncompromised. Researchers have identified possible vulnerabilities in the SHA-1 algorithm . All Gnutella clients have this limitation. In practice bogus search results are more problematic.

Versions

Lime Wire LLC, the developer of LimeWire, distributes two versions of the program; a basic version for free, and an enhanced version sold for a fee of US$24.95 that offers faster downloads. This is accomplished by facilitating direct connection with up to 10 hosts of an identical searched file at any one time, whereas the free version is limited to a maximum of 8 hosts. Prior to April 2004, the free version of LimeWire was distributed with a bundled program called LimeShop (a variant of TopMoxie), which was considered by computer security experts to be spyware. Among other things, LimeShop monitored online purchases in order to redirect sales commissions to Lime Wire LLC. Uninstallation of LimeWire would not remove LimeShop. With the removal of all bundled software in LimeWire 3.9.4 (released on April 20 2004), these objections were addressed.

Being free software, LimeWire has spawned several forks, including LionShare, an experimental software development project at Penn State University, and Acquisition, a Mac OS X–based Gnutella client with a proprietary interface. Researchers at Cornell University developed a reputation management add-in called Credence that allows users to distinguish between "genuine" and "suspect" files before downloading them. An October 12 2005 report states that some of LimeWire's open source contributors have forked the project and called it FrostWire.

LimeWire was the first file sharing program to support firewall-to-firewall file transfers, a feature introduced in version 4.2, which was released in November 2004. LimeWire also now includes BitTorrent support.

Criticism

According to a June 28, 2005, report in The New York Times, Lime Wire LLC was considering ceasing distributing LimeWire due to the outcome of MGM v. Grokster. On September 25 2005, it was reported that Lime Wire LLC was working on a version of the program which will refuse to share files that lack valid license information. Neither of these events occurred, and as of {{#time:F j, Y |now}}, it is still possible to download LimeWire and share copyrighted files.

On August 4 2006, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued LimeWire, alleging that it was profiting from unauthorized downloads. On September 25 2006 LimeWire countersued the RIAA for antitrust violations.

On May 12 2006, the BBC reported that "Limewire" and "Lime wire" (properly spelled as 'LimeWire') were among search terms likely to return links to malware from an Internet search engine.

On September 7 2007, Gregory Thomas Kopiloff of Seattle was arrested in what the U.S. Justice Department described as its first case against someone accused of using file-sharing computer programs to commit identity theft. According to federal prosecutors, Kopiloff used Limewire to troll other people's computers for financial information and then using it to obtain credit cards for an online shopping spree, federal prosecutors said.

Business model

LimeWire, LLC generates its revenues from the sale of LimeWire Pro. A LimeWire Pro license costs $24.95, and provides the user with a 6 month license. A 1-year "Extended Pro" license is available for $34.95. While commonly mistaken by many users to be a license to the content accessible via LimeWire on the Gnutella network, in fact, it is only a license to the software. LimeWire loses revenue as the Pro version is readily available from alternate sources including itself (for example, a user may use the freely-distributed version of limewire to download the "Pro" version)

The Pro version differs from the Basic version in 3 respects:

It offers personalized technical support.
It provides more search results by connecting to 5 UltraPeers instead of 3 UltraPeers.
It comes with extra skins.

This software is available for free at www.limewire.com

sitemap

2008-11-08T12:36:00.001-08:00

HOMEPAGE

2008-10-29T02:29:00.000-07:00

LimeWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, which uses the Gnutella network to locate and share files. Released under the GNU General Public License, Limewire is free software. It also encourages the user to pay a fee, which will then give the user access to LimeWire Pro.

GET YOUR OWN LIMEWIRE HERE>>>>CLICK ON THIS LINK

Features

Written in the Java programming language, LimeWire is able to run on any computer with Java Virtual Machine installed. Installers are provided for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Support for Mac OS 9 and other previous versions was dropped with the release of LimeWire 4.0.10.

Limitations

LimeWire limits queries to 3 - 30 characters. This is to prohibit searches for specific files. This limitation also means that the network will return more results than necessary.

LimeWire doesn't forward SHA1 searches. SHA1 searches find exact copies of files. Magnet links use SHA1 searches. SHA1 searches can also be used to find more sources for a download.

It offers personalized technical support.
It provides more search results by connecting to 5 UltraPeers instead of 3 UltraPeers.
It comes with extra skins.

2008-06-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

BitTorrent

BitTorrent is another p2p application that has fast caught on the
fancy of the p2p community. It uses the same concept of networking
but is a little different in the way it needs to be operated.
Even with BitTorrent, you will need to download and install
the software before you start using it.

Once you have installed the software, you will need to locate a Web site that will let you download an archive header or a .torrent file. There are a number of such sites that have updated file lists and let you download the header files, which add to the client software and then download the complete archive. This file contains a location that tells the BitTorrent client where to go to find the tracker that manages the uploading and downloading of the archive.

Once you have downloaded the .torrent file, your BitTorrent
client will kick in and connect to a managing computer that then
connects you to others who have the files. So why would you want
to go to Web sites first to download the header file? What makes
this network different from any other? Speed. This is the biggest advantage on the Torrent network.

Unlike earlier P2P networks, downloading using this network is a
dream since you are only limited by bandwidth and the number of
seeds available. If both are high, rest assured, downloading gigabytes of data is all in a day’s work.

The Web sites listing the torrents are called indexing sites and
have become very popular. Their popularity has come at a cost,
though with the MPAA and law enforcement agencies shutting
them down. There is also no shortage of sites to go to so long as
you know which are currently being used, as they come and go
rather quickly these days. Most indexing sites have a system of listing the number of Seeders and Leechers for a particular archive.
Seeder(s) are those users who have at least one complete copy
of the archive with them and are sharing it on the BitTorrent network.

However, for any user’s download to complete, you will need
at least one seeder who has the complete copy. Under certain circumstances
though, there may be no one seeder but enough people
with all the parts to make up the whole archive, which is
called a distributed copy.
Leecher is a user who starts downloading from the BitTorrent
network and then carries on downloading by connecting to different
seeders. In the BitTorrent network, though, a leecher is part of
the network and is uploading as well, many times more KB than
they download. This ensures that all users on the network get an
equal opportunity to download the file.
BitTorrent and eDonkey2000 are the most used networks
today. Web sites and forums that support the use and expansion of this network and community are available and there are new
users getting their first taste of P2P every single day. However,
there is a concern regarding the existence of these software and
community. How long will these networks survive given the legal
system (read American hegemony) and big American corporations
worldwide who are trying to put an end to P2P once and for all.
The “Digital Millennium Copyright Act Of 1998”
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was enacted in 1998
and is an extension of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) conference.
Simply put, this act lets US companies protect their works
from being abused in any manner using legal action. There are certain
clauses in the law that let companies take individuals or
organisations to court, who they think are infringing on the copyrights of their artists or their work.

The main benefactors of this act are the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA) who have their legal eagles keep an eye on the P2P
community. There have been a number of instances where the
DMCA Act has led to the closure of a number of P2P Web sites and
individuals and groups have been sued and sentenced by the
court, thanks to the DMCA act.

However, some countries, especially the Nordic and Asian ones
do not have a legal framework in place that will prevent the distribution of software or applications or music using the network. These countries are the ones responsible for keeping the P2P community alive. But with growing US pressure, the future seems uncertain. Is this warranted, though? To an extent, yes. If you are someone who burns the midnight oil to get a fantastic music album out on the streets only to find it being pirated and sold online or
downloaded for free by people, our guess is you will go the legal
way. But that does not mean P2P is illegal.

There are Web sites available that let you download 100 per
cent legal software, movies and music. Agreed, these are few in
number, but it is a beginning. Another factor that makes business
sense is the downloading of software that takes place from Web
sites. Using BitTorrent, this can be done much faster and also be
spread to other users. Therefore, the bottomline is that P2P software can be put to good use. Will it catch on? That is a question, which can be answered only a few years on from now.

2008-06-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

eDonkey2000

eDonkey was released in September 2000 and was hence tagged
with the name eDonkey2000. It started out as a very small community
but the subsequent fall of Napster and growing problems
on the Kazaa network, suddenly made this software one of the
most viable clients for the P2P network.

What took off slowly suddenly became a storm that brought
down the P2P planet. If you were one of the hip crowd, you just
had to know what eDonkey2000 was!

eDonkey2000 was a third generation P2P software by a small
developer group who called themselves MetaMachine. eDonkey
was based on the same centralised server concept as Napster, but
there was one vital difference.

Emule, a freeware client for the eDonkey 2000 network
Napster had all their servers located at a single location in
Silicon Valley, CA. MetaMachine, though, went the opposite direction
and released their server software in the community. It was
akin to letting salt dissolve in water with the water being the P2P
community.

Now it became the community’s responsibility to take
care of the server and update it with the latest information to
attract more users to use the software. MetaMachine develops the
technology, but it is the responsibility of the community to maintain the network.

The eDonkey network requires some maintenance for operating
at optimum levels. First, every user needs to install the
eDonkey2000 client and then download the server.met file from a
specified website. This file contains the latest information of all
the servers available and provides server address to the client software so that it can connect to faster and live servers.

Once that is done, the client makes a connection with a server
and gets connected to the network. Now you can use the integrated
search box in the client to search for whatever you want ranging
from applications to movies to albums to just about anything.
Other applications that are modified eDonkey2000 clients and utilising the same network are eMule, Shareaza, aMule, eMule
plus, Morpheus and many more for the Windows platform. For
Macs, you can use software such as hydranode, iSwine and of
course eMule and aMule versions for Macs. Similar clients are also
available for Linux.

The eDonkey network set the standard for hashing files. What
is file hashing? Hashing is the transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string. Hashing is used to index and retrieve items in a database because it is faster to find the item using the shorter hashed key than to find it using the original value.

So, if you have a database of Digit magazines consisting of records of articles from June 2001 to July 2005, trying to access data by typing in “Digit-February 2002-Insight-Quick Start-30 Minutes Expert” you will be better off by giving this a shorter value such as “DigFeb02-IN-QS-30". Not only will the search be faster but also be better indexed which will let retrieve data faster.

Now imagine the same thing being done with over a billion
files on a network. There is bound to be confusion and ultimately
chaos. Therefore, what happened was each file that was uploaded
to the edonkey network was hashed uniquely and checked and
then made available.

This made downloads simple, quicker and reliable. But the
same problems that affected the Kazaa network, which were spyware,
viruses and Trojans, also affected the eDonkey network. To
overcome this, the community came out with Web sites that listed
verified content that was being made available on the
eDonkey2000 network. Since all of these downloads were verified
and checked, there was a large reduction in the number of fake
applications and the network survived.

Once again, though, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association
of America) and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)
swung into action and started proceedings for legal action against
several network communities and the process still goes on. With all
of this going on, something was coming and it promised to revolutionise...

2008-06-24T04:58:00.000-07:00

KaZaA

Kazaa is a file-sharing software similar to Napster barring minor
differences. Firstly, Kazaa is second-generation P2P software and is not based on the centralised server principle. This particular software is based on the FastTrack network and is currently owned by the Australia-based Sharman Networks. Niklas Zennstrom from
Sweden and Janus Friis from Denmark, though, were the original
programmers who invented KaZaA. The FastTrack network supports
other P2P clients such as iMesh, Grokster and Kazaa Lite K++.

The principle utilised in the FastTrack network is simple. There is
no centralised server. Instead of a central indexing server, the FT network dynamically assigns indexing features to other connected
nodes or peers based on criteria such as machine uptime, data availability and system performance. These peers are called Supernodes and it is to these machines that other peers or nodes are connected.

There are a large number of supernodes present on a network at any
given time and clients or peers connect to any available Supernode
irrespective of the priority of the client. As long as there is a
Supernode available on the network, you can be connected. The principle of having a Supernode on the network increases scalability without affecting network performance and also catering to a large
number of users at the same time.

Kazaa Vs. Napster

The difference between download options offered by Kazaa and
Napster was massive. While Napster only indulged in song swapping,
Kazaa was a virtual pirate bay. Any application-music, video, documents that was shared on a computer could be accessed (as long as the data was kept in “My Shared Folder” in the Kazaa directory. Plus, an improvement in the network performance due to a decentralised system allowed users to download anything they wanted with ease.

Users who could understand file-sharing had a lethal and potent
software at their disposal, which would get them everything that
they wanted without paying a penny in the process (of course, not
considering the Internet access charges). Suddenly, everything was on Internet.

You want Windows XP, connect and download it. You want Shrek the movie, connect and download it. You want Sheryl Crow’s music, connect and download! Everyone had everything and the share and share alike adage was catching on like bushfire.

What also got Kazaa going was a deluge of Web sites that were
dedicated on making Kazaa the only place to get software and other
stuff. Links on these websites could be clicked on and would be automatically added to the software saving users the pain of sifting through junk results thrown up by the internal search in Kazaa.
Nevertheless, there was an inherent problem that users were
not aware of and which became public only later.

The Kazaa client that users installed in their computers had a spyware that would pass on personal, sensitive information to Sharman Networks.

When this became public, there was a huge public outrage and people
suddenly started using alternatives such as iMesh, Grokster and
Kazaa Lite K++. While iMesh and Grokster were similar software
using the same network, Kazaa Lite K++ was a hacked Kazaa without
the spyware and all the modifications which made it one of the best
P2P clients ever.

However, there was one problem. Sharman Networks quickly made this software illegal and users using this software started getting low results and download speeds were capped making it excruciatingly slow for users of Kazaa Lite K++.

However, other software such as iMesh and Grokster kept users
enticed and downloads all over the planet reached a peak in 2003
with over 140 million PCs connected to the network at any given time using one or the other version of software. Other than the spyware
issue, there were many other issues plaguing Kazaa users. Primary
amongst these were the fake files that people started getting after finishing a download.

Other issues included viruses and spyware planted in downloaded programs which only became evident after programs started malfunctioning or the system started misbehaving. There was no solution for this and the only solution was to download and scan and check all software.

Music companies by this time were hopping mad and soon
enough, they started closely monitoring the FastTrack network,
which is being carried on even at this point in time. Eventually, music companies started flooding the network with fake music files with authentic tagging information to discourage downloads. Software companies followed suit and the legal battle ensued.

The battle rages to this day with the recent MGM versus Grokster case, where the Supreme Court ruled that Grokster was actually violating copyright laws and issued an order against it.
Soon enough, users started trying other software, which included
eDonkey and the recent BitTorrent.

2008-06-24T04:55:00.000-07:00

Napster

Two college students, 19-year-old Shawn Fanning and 20-year-old
Sean Parker founded Napster in May 1999. They originally just
wanted to trade music over the Internet with their friends, however,
other users latched onto this software and soon, it became
global phenomenon. In February 2001, it had 29.4 million registered
users who shared 2.79 billion files in the same month.

However, the major drawback of Napster was the need to connect
to a central server to authenticate and then pass the control back
to the nodes for further file transfer. In this kind of a system, theserver maintains directories of what is stored in each peer computer.The central server directs the connections between peers.
Thus, while the connection is made directly from peer to peer,
server is still necessary.

When a new user installs the client software in the computer and then goes online using the software, he is first connected to
the central server. Once connected, he can then search for a specific song and sends his search on the server.

On the server side, it has indexed files that are available on
other nodes connected to the server. Depending on the search
you have sent, you will find a list of files or results. Now you can
sort the results according to the bit rate, file size, artist name or any of the other factors important to you and get a more relevant
file list.

Once you have chosen what file to download, the Napster software
on the other end of the line will upload the file directly to them.
The locations of all the music files of the users that are currently
online are kept on the central network, but the files themselves stay on the users’ computers until another computer asks for it.

The main advantage of a network such as Napster is the easy
access provided to users for searching any music. Once connected,
all you needed to do was send a search-and a specific one at thatto
get whatever you want.

Another factor is that unlike Web search results that are not
updated from time to time, results obtained from Napster are current
and available. One click and the download is on! Moreover,
downloads are multi-threaded, so all available parts from sources are to be downloaded first instead of a sequential download. This multithreaded downloading principle is currently implemented in newer P2P software and even in software such as Mass Downloader and
Flashget which let you make HTTP downloads faster.

In case of Napster, the system makes available a massive variety
of music, because the users provide the files, not Napster. Napster
just provides the software and network infrastructure, and users
provide the content. This system inherently provides more benefit
to the users the more popular it becomes. Popularity in this case
is a direct result of improving content.

Napster’s revenue plans included selling advertising space on
their Web site and use their brand equity to sell T-shirts. But the
revenue generated using such an idea amounted to peanuts and so
Napster was considered a free service and users just kept logging
on and downloading.

However, there was one slight problem. The music industry in
America is one of the biggest worldwide. Napster only dealt with
music files and not with any other types such as documents or
applications. This kept it out of the legal roadblocks but eventually the music industry’s feathers were ruffled.

Using legal resources, the Napster service was shut down by
the American Music Industry that cited several reasons including
artists not receiving their rightful dues due to the Napster service.

Finally, Napster was shut down and merged with Bertelsmann
(BMG Music). In its current avatar, Napster is charging an access
fee for all their services and is now selling music online as well.
But this was not the end of the world for P2P users. By the time
Napster got into a legal tangle with the authorities, networks such
as KaZaA and eDonkey had already arrived and users were switching
to these networks, fast.

2008-06-24T04:29:00.000-07:00

Peer 2 Peer

P2P is a strange topic to talk about since in normal network jargon
it refers to connecting computers across the network to share
resources and in some cases, to work as one (cluster computing).
In this section, we will talk about P2P software and its history.
What attracts users across cyberspace to this and what is the
software available and why are the authorities working overtime to
make P2P a thing of the past? All that and more as we move on.
The traditional way of networking is client-server architecture. In
this type, there are dedicated computers (servers) which let other
computers (clients) access it and use its resources. In the P2P type,all computers are connected to a network and at any point of time any computer can act as a server and another computer that uses
its resources is the client.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing is based on this protocol. When you
install software such as Napster or Kazaa on your computer and
access the Internet, it connects to other computers to download
any stuff that you have searched using the client.

Based on this protocol, Napster was launched in May 1999. This
was the first P2P software but not in the truest sense of the word.
This was because it still needed users to connect to a central server and once the client was identified, further file transfer was
passed on to the nodes. This was furthered by software such as
Kazaa and eDonkey. However, with each new software came a different
implementation of the technology. We will talk about this
when we go and pick apart each of the software.

Since 1999, there have been many changes in the P2P world.
Napster has since closed down owing to a ruling by the American
courts. Napster is still available, but in a form where it is no longer attractive enough for P2P users.

Newer P2P software such as BitTorrent has reared its head in
recent years and is the latest rage amongst P2P users. Filling the
gap between Napster and BitTorrent was eDonkey, which was
going strong until BitTorrent appeared. eDonkey is still pretty
much available, but its favourite rating amongst users has
dropped to a very large extent.

In the coming section, we will discuss the most used P2P software
worldwide and how to use them. But before you start reading
it, remember that downloading illegal stuff of the Internet
such as movies or music you do not own or do not have a copyright
of is illegal.

We do not condone such activities and the information provided here is only for the sake of informing you as a reader and not to give you ways of downloading stuff illegally. Please be aware of what is legal on the Internet and steer clear of activities that could potentially land in you in jail. With that said lets look at the software mentioned above and understand how it works.