@@ 'Kazaa' the most downloaded software ever @@

Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 07:11:10 -0400
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Size: 3,611 bytes

New scientist
May 23, 2003
File-sharing program is 'most downloaded ever'
A free computer program used for file-sharing has become the most downloaded
piece of software ever, its parent company announced on Thursday.
The program, Kazaa (www.kazaa.com), lets users locate and download music and
video files from each other over the internet. This and similar programs
have attracted the wrath of the entertainment industry for making it very
simple to share copyrighted works.
Sharman Networks says its program has now been downloaded more than 230
million times, placing it ahead of instant messaging program ICQ in the list
of all time downloads.
On Friday, a leading software download site showed Kazaa slightly behind ICQ
with 227 and 229 million downloads respectively. But according to
www.Download.com, Kazaa is sure to overtake. It was downloaded more than 2.5
million times in the last week, while ICQ was downloaded just 330,000 times.
Download figures may not precisely reflect the number of times a program has
actually been installed and used, but nonetheless analysts say the figures
highlight the popularity of music file sharing.
Explosive power
"There are just 106 million US households, so it shows you the worldwide
breadth of file-sharing,'' said P J McNealy, an analyst at US research firm
GartnerG2, speaking to The Mercury News. "It captures the phenomenon that is
the internet, that it has tremendous explosive powers." For the music and
movie industries, it is a "horrifying number", he says.
Furthermore, Kazaa is just one of many file-sharing programs that have
filled the gap left when Napster collapsed in 2000 after legal challenges
from the recording industry.
Napster recorded around 1.5 million simultaneous users at the peak of its
popularity, but the Fastrack network, to which Kazaa users connect,
regularly attracts more than four million simultaneous sharers.
Some of the effort to beat illegal file sharing has focused on setting up
paid-for sites that offer better service, but these have so far proven
unsuccessful. However, iTunes, a service recently launched by Apple has
bucked this trend.
The service lets users download files for 99 cents each and make unlimited
copies for portable iPod players. The number of copies per desktop is
restricted, however. Apple reports that two million songs were downloaded
through the service in its first two weeks.
Copy control
Another front in the battle against illegal file swapping has been
protecting the files against copying. On Thursday, Microsoft released
software for Internet Explorer designed to prevent the unauthorized copying
of office documents.
Microsoft says the plug-in will primarily enable businesses to protect their
intellectual property. But Julian Midgley, director of the UK Campaign for
Digital Rights, points out that copy controls are also built into the latest
version of Windows Media Player. "It's the thin end of the wedge" he told
New Scientist.
Microsoft's Rights Management Add-on for Internet Explorer, released in test
format, will let users view files created using the "digital rights
management" controls built into Microsoft's Office 2003 software, also only
available in test format. This will give the creator of a file the power to
control the access to a document and its copying.
Through its Palladium project, Microsoft plans to provide even greater
security by building copy controls into hardware. Midgley is concerned that
this could take ultimate control over personal computers away from their
users.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993764