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P2P Wrap-up for 2003
December 31, 2003
Although file-sharing went through some its greatest challenges during 2003, it once again emerges as one of the greatest Internet driving forces. While some still long for the golden age of file-sharing under Napster, 2003 proved to be just as productive in its own right.January
The beginning of 2003 proved to be no better for the RIAA than its end. On January 6, the RIAA website suffered perhaps its greatest hack. The message the hackers left was so well written that at first glance many felt the RIAA had actually surrendered. No such luck, unfortunately.
Also on January 6, the P2P community welcomed the arrival of Piolet. After months of stagnation, Pablo Soto released his spyware/adware-free version of his Manolito Client. The Manolito network has since grown to well over 200,000 simultaneous users and is considered one of the better networks for accessing a wealth of music files.
February
In the early stages of the RIAA/Verizon lawsuit, the telecommunications giant was seeking a compromise. Verizon was willing to give up the names of several file-traders if the RIAA would agree to certain conditions, such as the volume of subpoenas. The RIAA refused. The rest is history.
Although IRC is the god-father of modern P2P networking, DALNet announced on Feburary 5 they will enforce their "no file-sharing" policy. After this announcement, coupled by a series of crippling DOS attacks, DALNet's population remains a shadow of its former self.
March
On March 9, Janus Friis, one of the co-founders of Kazaa, admitted to Slyck that certain aspects of FastTrack did indeed require a central server. However, Janus pointed out these servers (host cache server) were used by older clients that required an IP address to connect to the network.
Steve Griffin, CEO of StreamCast networks (Morpheus), resigned on March 15. Plagued by a spiraling userbase, StreamCast rehired former CEO Michael Weiss. Micheal Weiss was the original CEO of StreamCast when it was known as "MusicCity" (under OpenNap) and during Morpheus’ reign as the lead FastTrack client.
April
The month of April reinforced the concept that CD sales were not improving any time soon. Countries such as Japan and Germany witnessed an exceptional decline of nearly 9%.
April 25 proved to be an important day in P2P history as StreamCast and Grokster defeated the RIAA in court. Similar to the ruling from the Netherlands, the judge ruled that neither company was responsible for the actions of its users.
May
May was a bit quiet for the P2P world; however it would prove to be the calm before the great storm. One news piece of particular interest was Kazaa's success in becoming the most downloaded piece of software ever, with nearly 300,000,000 downloads.
June
Although this news came as little surprise, the RIAA announced on June 25 they will begin suing individual members of the file-sharing community. In the long run, this botched campaign to terrorize the American people would prove to be their greatest fallacy.
July
As the RIAA began suing the American people, the last thing the file-sharing community did was stand by and watch. Read Slyck's interview with MetaMachine's Paul Reinheimer on July 11 and with FileTopia on July 16.
On July 29, the RIAA chose former Republican big wig Mitch Bainwol, former chief of staff to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to replace Hilary Rosen as CEO and Chairman.
August
Some good news began to appear in August 2003. While the mainstream media painted a gloomy P2P picture, file-sharing remained steady despite numerous lawsuits.
Additional positive news came on August 8 when a Massachusetts District court judge gave MIT and Boston College the OK to reject the subpoenas issued by the RIAA. The judge cited that the subpoenas had to be filed in the state in which the alleged violation occurred. While the music industry was quick to brush this ruling off, it would prove to be one of the first cracks in the RIAA's armor.
September
The full scope of the RIAA's terror campaign is realized when a 12 year old girl, named Brianna LaHara was sued by the RIAA. The event is a public relations nightmare for the now embattled RIAA.
In an attempt to prevent movie piracy, the MPAA decides to ban "screener" distribution. Screener movies (varying quality, some are about VHS standard, while others are near-DVD) are sent to film critics prior to award ceremonies, such as the Oscars. As news of this broke, independent film artists reacted, stating their movies would be pushed out of competition against Hollywood. Their protests would prove fruitful as a New York City judge blocked the MPAA's ban.
October
Sandvine, a network research firm, reported on October 14 that FastTrack was facing stiff competition in foreign markets. While FastTrack is the most popular network in North American, Europeans favor the eDonkey2000 network.
WinMX 3.31 celebrated its one year anniversary on October 19. It is the only client to survive without an update and still draw an enormous userbase.
BitTorrent proves it is a force to be reckoned with, as its popularity continues to soar. Although this network was primarily used to trade TV shows and movie files, it resourcefulness has expanded to music and applications.
November
AltNet, the elusive shadow network that resides within FastTrack, announced that it plans to enforce its patent on "hashing" technology. Hashing technology is a method of creating a unique code that identifies a particular file. This is particularly useful in the fight against corrupt or false files. Little from AltNet has been heard since.
The GAO, or Government Accounting Office, released a report that greatly favors the existence of P2P networking. While many members of Congress have been quick to go on the data provided by the RIAA, the report provided by the GAO threw a very large wrench in the music industry's information campaign.
December
December would prove to be one of the greatest months in the history of file-sharing. The beginning of this moth did not bode well for P2P lovers; nearly all download resources of Kazaa Lite were eliminated, and the RIAA’s “sue ‘em all” campaign was in high gear.
However, a series of terrific reverses against the RIAA brought their world crumbling down. Befuddled and defeated, the RIAA is attempting to save face by clamoring the lawsuits will go on.
As modern file-sharing enters it fourth year of existence, despite its ups and downs, it has proven that the P2P world is a resilient, observant and adaptable community. Nearly every obstacle the music industry has thrown at us has been defeated. We’re looking forward to similar results in 2004.
The month of April reinforced the concept that CD sales were not improving any time soon. Countries such as Japan and Germany witnessed an exceptional decline of nearly 9%.
April 25 proved to be an important day in P2P history as StreamCast and Grokster defeated the RIAA in court. Similar to the ruling from the Netherlands, the judge ruled that neither company was responsible for the actions of its users.
May
May was a bit quiet for the P2P world; however it would prove to be the calm before the great storm. One news piece of particular interest was Kazaa's success in becoming the most downloaded piece of software ever, with nearly 300,000,000 downloads.
June
Although this news came as little surprise, the RIAA announced on June 25 they will begin suing individual members of the file-sharing community. In the long run, this botched campaign to terrorize the American people would prove to be their greatest fallacy.
July
As the RIAA began suing the American people, the last thing the file-sharing community did was stand by and watch. Read Slyck's interview with MetaMachine's Paul Reinheimer on July 11 and with FileTopia on July 16.
On July 29, the RIAA chose former Republican big wig Mitch Bainwol, former chief of staff to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to replace Hilary Rosen as CEO and Chairman.
August
Some good news began to appear in August 2003. While the mainstream media painted a gloomy P2P picture, file-sharing remained steady despite numerous lawsuits.
Additional positive news came on August 8 when a Massachusetts District court judge gave MIT and Boston College the OK to reject the subpoenas issued by the RIAA. The judge cited that the subpoenas had to be filed in the state in which the alleged violation occurred. While the music industry was quick to brush this ruling off, it would prove to be one of the first cracks in the RIAA's armor.
September
The full scope of the RIAA's terror campaign is realized when a 12 year old girl, named Brianna LaHara was sued by the RIAA. The event is a public relations nightmare for the now embattled RIAA.
In an attempt to prevent movie piracy, the MPAA decides to ban "screener" distribution. Screener movies (varying quality, some are about VHS standard, while others are near-DVD) are sent to film critics prior to award ceremonies, such as the Oscars. As news of this broke, independent film artists reacted, stating their movies would be pushed out of competition against Hollywood. Their protests would prove fruitful as a New York City judge blocked the MPAA's ban.
October
Sandvine, a network research firm, reported on October 14 that FastTrack was facing stiff competition in foreign markets. While FastTrack is the most popular network in North American, Europeans favor the eDonkey2000 network.
WinMX 3.31 celebrated its one year anniversary on October 19. It is the only client to survive without an update and still draw an enormous userbase.
BitTorrent proves it is a force to be reckoned with, as its popularity continues to soar. Although this network was primarily used to trade TV shows and movie files, it resourcefulness has expanded to music and applications.
November
AltNet, the elusive shadow network that resides within FastTrack, announced that it plans to enforce its patent on "hashing" technology. Hashing technology is a method of creating a unique code that identifies a particular file. This is particularly useful in the fight against corrupt or false files. Little from AltNet has been heard since.
The GAO, or Government Accounting Office, released a report that greatly favors the existence of P2P networking. While many members of Congress have been quick to go on the data provided by the RIAA, the report provided by the GAO threw a very large wrench in the music industry's information campaign.
December
December would prove to be one of the greatest months in the history of file-sharing. The beginning of this moth did not bode well for P2P lovers; nearly all download resources of Kazaa Lite were eliminated, and the RIAA’s “sue ‘em all” campaign was in high gear.
However, a series of terrific reverses against the RIAA brought their world crumbling down. Befuddled and defeated, the RIAA is attempting to save face by clamoring the lawsuits will go on.
As modern file-sharing enters it fourth year of existence, despite its ups and downs, it has proven that the P2P world is a resilient, observant and adaptable community. Nearly every obstacle the music industry has thrown at us has been defeated. We’re looking forward to similar results in 2004.
This story is filed in these Slyck News categories
File-Sharing/P2P Related :: Reviews
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