How come napster was prosectuted for copyright but programs like Kazaa can still operate?
543714
Napster was located in the US and was the first major target of the RIAA's anit-P2P litigation efforts. Kazaa is not located in the US, making some anti-piracy efforts murky. However, Kazaa also made efforts to distinguish itself from napster by attempting to limit the distribution of copyrighted materials on its networks. Limewire is an interface to a network using the Gnutella protocol, which is a decetralized P2P protocol written by the creators of Winamp. Limewire (and other Gnutella clients) operates by connecting users directly to other users rather than to a single set of servers. This makes shutting down those networks considerable harder. The same decentralized philosophy used in Limewire is also used in Bittorrent, however Bittorrent requires that a user upload as he or she is downloading. Also, Bittorrent has been embraced by the Open Source community as a legitimate tool for legally distributing software.
323657
I heard kazaa gives a lot of viruses.Well I've been using limewire and It works pretty well...you might want to try that out...
824380
BitTorrent, the tool for transfering files that that mininova.org centers around, is completely legal and legit. I lot of schools, companies, regular people, etc. use at as a great way to share large files.\n\nBut, like any file sharing program, it can be used for pirated programs, media, etc. as much as legit stuff.
1155283
You can't.  Unless an artist or record company is promoting a new album or something and offers a free download on their website.  It happens a lot.  I know that Incubus has offered free downloads on their website before.  Other than that, FILE SHARING, COPYING OR DOWNLOADING OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT, IS NOT LEGAL PERIOD.  \n\nIt's interesting that not that long ago, people were listening to music on cassette tape and copying cassette tapes was just as prevalent as file sharing of mp3s is today.  The difference is that the quality of a copied tape was no where near as good as the original, so the record companies and artists didn't feel as threatened.  Nowadays, the quality of these copied files is nearly identical to the original CD.  It's also much easier to download only the songs you like, as opposed to buying an entire CD for one or two good songs.  It's caused CD sales to drop significantly.  That's why these legality issues have become so hyped up.  It's all about the bottom line profit for the record companies and artists. \n\nSo while you can download music for free through something like Kazaa or Limewire...it is totally NOT LEGAL.  All of these services state that their service is only to be used to download non-copyrighted material or material where the "owners" have given their permission to share.  As an example, many garage bands use Limewire to get their music out into the masses and heard.  It's their music so the have every right to share it and they want you to download it for free now...in the hopes that sometime in the future you will buy it when they get a recording contract.  ;-)\n\nI will also warn you that several people as young as 11, have been prosecuted civilly for illegal file sharing.  These record companies have hired high-power attorneys and investigators to scan these file sharing sites for IP addresses they can then target.  They nail people at random, but they want to make examples out of these people.  Read all about it at http://www.riaa.com/issues/piracy/riaa.asp and http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/#114407412140982469 .
77953
First of all, you don't want Kazaa. Sorry to break it to you, but Kazaa will get you caught QUICK. Get bearshare, or limewire, or better yet, something you pay for. Well, Norton should automatically let you choose when you want something to be able to run. If it doesn't, bring up Norton. Oh crap, wrong Norton, sorry, i don't know. Bring up the options menu, though, and if all else fails turn Norton off while using the program. Sorry!
451198
These kinds of programs were created as a means to share files from person to person that could otherwise not be transmitted through servers or Internet Service Providers with megabyte limitations.  You are supposed to be using these programs to share things that you own but have evolved quickly into the type of filesharing that most of us are familiar with now a days.  People put up their music, movies, programs, or whatever else they bought legally and share it with those who didn't.  The uploaders then in turn download the stuff others have put up there for free.  This is definitely illegal but difficult to regulate.  Giant corporation can catch you easily (Internet Protocol (IP) tracking) if you download their materials illegally, however it is time consuming and costly for them to do so.  Imagine presses charges on the millions of people who download illegally.  You will most likely be targeted only if you keep large collections of media in your library.  That will put you on their radar and you will become a juicy target to make an example of.  They target large collectors because they are also a large source from which others can download more stuff in sort of a viscious cycle.  Hope that info helps.  Good luck!
605139
How is she a "newb" she just asked a simple question.\nI dont use Kazaa any more because of viruses but I use LimeWire, same diffrence really. Still lots of shared viruse.s Mostly evey file thats like 300KB and under is some sort of Adware. My Noton told me :)\nBit Torrent is good for people who want to download lots of Copyrighted games like me and movies hehehaha!
519394
I wouldn't download Kazaa if I were you; it's full of malware (adware, etc.). I suggest Limewire: simple to use and no ads or spyware.
804341
Not every download is copyright infringment.\n\nIf someone has legal ownership of a work (as its creator/author), then they are perfectly entitled to grant permission for anyone else to make copies and distribute them.\n\nAlso, many works are either public domain or allowed by their copyright holder to be distributed under a specific license agreement (such as non-commercial use only). These are again not in volation of copyright laws.\n\nSo, there are plenty of legal ways that software like limewire can be used. And as long as there are legal uses, and as long as the software maker doesn't intend or support illegal use to occur -- the software itself is not illegal.\n\nBut using it to make unlawful copies is still illegal.
911500
You are not going to either.  Its huge bandwidth, if its a direct link there is no chance for advertising, and it would be a headache and a half for someone to run and deal with the copyright issues.
870458
Downloading music is illegal! If one wanted to break the law, Kazza, limewire, bearshare, would be the place, You didn't hear that from me!!!
347278
the above answer is not completely true\n\notherwise, why would there be p2p programs at all?\n\n\nIf you want to share something you created completely on your own, you are free to do so.  But yes, sharing music and video files that you bought is illegal.  If caught, there can be some very stiff fines if not prosecutions & jail time.
434516
yeah kinda what he said: its not illegal to own limewire but it is illegal to download music, video and programs as its counted as piracy i dont think it matters with downloading pictures though but again there are so many people that do it you probably wont get caught ever. so go nuts --- Fizzy
273829
its spelled kazaa..but dont use it , it is full of spyware/adware use limewire..
780408
whether you're uploading OR downloading copyrighted material you're breaking the law - the nature of bittorrent means you're both downloading AND uploading at the same time.\n\neven if you set your upload rate to 0k/s your ip address will still be listed as a peer for that torrent so it makes no difference whether you are or aren't uploading.\n\nbecause bittorrent is so popular and because everyone's ip address is on display all the time they're downloading/uploading it's a major target by the MPAA who log those addresses and (sometimes) take action against people violating their copyright.
140413
These programs still exist because of the vast amount of loopholes that can be used by a company to promote their product as perfectly legal. And in a way... they are.\n\nIf you've tried to download Limewire within the past few months, you'll notice that you have to agree to not use the product for sharing copyrighted material or for other illegal purposes. The stated intent of the program is to be able to share (non-copyrighted) material across a huge peer-to-peer network.\n\nNapster was shut down because it was advertised as a program to download music, and the program was constructed to serve this purpose. Limewire and other programs are built to share a multitude of files. But most users say they agree to not share copyrighted material but do anyways.\n\nSo in this sense... it's the USERS who are breaking the law, not the program creator.
683066
i am pretty sure that napster is the best one, but there are things like LimeWire Pro that are legal but i dont thinko they are so great.