Word: kazaa
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Most online piracy happens through what is called file-sharing software, such as Kazaa, Gnutella and Direct Connect, that links millions of computers to one another over the Internet. File-sharing software takes advantage of the fact that music and movies are stored as digital data--they're not vinyl and celluloid anymore, but collections of disembodied, computerized bits and bytes that can be stored or played on a computer and transmitted over the Internet as easily as e-mail. Using file-sharing software, people can literally browse through one another's digital music and movie collections, picking and choosing...
...your average high school kids if they use Kazaa, and the answer is a resounding "duh." Stewart Laperouse and Jennifer Rieger, a couple at Cy-Fair High School in Houston, log on as part of their regular after-school routine--it's the new milk and cookies. Often they do their downloading a deux, after he gets out of lacrosse practice. His collection is relatively small: 150 songs and about 50 music videos. She's the real repeat offender, with 400 pilfered tracks on her hard drive. "Who wouldn't want to do this?" Rieger says. "It's totally free...
Hardly. The file-sharing services didn't go away. They evolved, getting smarter and more decentralized and harder to shut down. Napster's network relied on a central server, an Achilles' heel that made it easier to unplug and shut down. But Kazaa, now the most popular file-sharing software, is built around a floating, distributed network of individual PCs that has no center. There's no single plug to pull. Kazaa has savvily chosen a decentralized business strategy too: it's a mirage of complicated partnerships with the official owner, Sharman Networks, tucked away on the South Pacific island...
...under 35 and own a computer with a high-speed Internet connection, chances are you've indulged in a very 21st century vice: sharing and downloading music (on services like Kazaa, Morpheus and LimeWire) without the music industry's permission. And like millions of others, you could now be in trouble. Last week a federal judge ordered Verizon, a fast-growing telephone company and Internet service provider (ISP), to answer a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) subpoena for the name of one of its customers, a heavy Kazaa user. Should you be worried...
...broadcast an address that your ISP can link back to you. But right now there are just too many services--and way too many users--for either the industry or your ISP to monitor them all. Subpoenas will aim for obvious targets on the most popular services--like that Kazaa user, who had put more than 600 pirated tunes online. Those who download in moderation should easily escape the RIAA's wrath...