 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 ] Next Last |
Currently, the program is released only for the Windows operating system. It can be run on Linux, Mac OS X and other operating systems with emulation software like WINE and Virtual PC.
Many consider Kazaa to be superior to other file sharing programs because of its wide file selection and fast transfer speeds. While it is the P2P network with the largest installed userbase, it is worth noting that the Kazaa client installs spyware onto the user's machine, with potential security and privacy implications.
Kazaa uses a "participation level" system intended to reward participants who share much material with fast downloads. This is subverted by most of the unofficial clients.
The number of users connected to the Kazaa network at any given time fluctuates between 1 million and 5 million users, with the average usually being around 3 million. There are over 1.5 billion files on the network totalling 26 petabytes, with about 1,000 downloads every minute.
Kazaa has, from early on, been accused of installing spyware and/or adware onto users' computers. Brilliant Digital, Kazaa's home company, has always denied that they did any such thing. However, their definition of spyware differs from that generally used. At one time, the part of the Kazaa code which was considered spyware by neutral observers was an optional, though technically difficult to not install, part of the Kazaa installation. Since the allegations have surfaced, however, the code has been bundled into the main Kazaa software, and it is not possible to uninstall it. Also, spyware detection and removal software has frequently failed to delete the code without special actions taken by the PC user.
Spyware/adware installed by Kazaa includes:
As a result of these hidden features, especially Altnet, CNet's Download.com site stopped the distribution of KaZaA in April 2004.
This section is limited to those programs which are based on the official Kazaa client. For other FastTrack-compatible clients, see FastTrack.
Kazaa Lite (also called K-Lite) is an unauthorized modification of the Kazaa Media Desktop application which excludes adware and spyware and provides slightly extended functionality. It became available in April 2002. It can be downloaded free of charge, and as of 2004 is almost as widely used as the official Kazaa client itself. It connects to the same FastTrack network and thus allows to exchange files with all Kazaa users. It was created by third party programmers by modifying the binary of the original Kazaa application.
Included with recent versions of Kazaa Lite is K++, a memory patcher that removes search limit restrictions, multisource limits, and sets one's "participation level" to the maximum of 1000.
Sharman Networks considers Kazaa Lite to be a copyright violation. On August 11, 2003, they sent a letter to Google requesting that all links to the K-Lite application be removed from their database. During December 2003 Sharman emailed the owners of all sites hosting a copy of K-Lite, threatening legal action if it was not removed. Because of this, the program was for a while difficult to find on the web, and development of it stopped. As of mid 2004, the program is again widely available. It also remains available on the FastTrack network itself, where it can be downloaded with Kazaa or any other FastTrack client. There are rumours that new versions of Sharman's Kazaa will prevent K-Lite from connecting to the FastTrack network, but as of mid 2004 this hasn't happened.
After development of K-Lite stopped, Kazaa Lite Resurrection appeared. It is a slightly modified version of K-Lite. Other programmers produced Clean KMD, Kazaa Lite Tools K++, K-Lite v2.6, and Diet K. These programs don't include any code by Sharman: they require the user to supply the original, unpatched Kazaa Media Desktop, and they execute it in an environment which removes the malware and adds some features. The authors believe that these versions might therefore be legal.
The confusion over the status of K-Lite was exploited by the owners of the deceptively titled website http://k-lite-legal.com/ to sell subscriptions to a music download service unrelated to the K-Lite application.
In August 2003, Kazaa Plus was introduced by Sharman Networks. This is a paid-for premium version with no spyware or adware. In an attempt to cash in on the Kazaa name, another commercial version called Kazaa Gold has been produced. This is not an actual product of Sharman Networks.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|