AfterDawn: News

KaZaA ships v2.0 and makes deal with European ISP

World's most popular P2P software provider, KaZaA (owned by Sharman Networks), has released a new major version, v2.0, today. Company has also made a deal with major European ISP, Tiscali, to promote Tiscali's broadband service through Kazaa's network.

New version of Kazaa introduces various enhancements to the service, including a possibility to "bundle" files, such as full albums, into download lists, so users can download full albums more easily. Other new improvement is an introduction of web search which allows users to search through WWW in order to find music, movies, etc from there.



The deal with Tiscali proves that the company tries to make its public appearance more legit. The agreement allows Tiscali to promote its broadband services through Kazaa's desktop client and if a new user signs up to Tiscali's broadband service, Kazaa will get a slice -- a marketing method called CPA (cost per action) advertising.

Source: PCWorld

Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 23 Sep 2002 15:37

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• 26 comments

• Dela

  I tried downloading the new kazaa from download.com. It was an installer that works accross the net and it kept installing version 1.7.2
  
  anyone know where else i could get it. dont say kazaas site because they re-direct you to download.com

  24.9.2002 00:03 #1

• dejiray

  GO toBest Downloads TO Get Version 2 of kazaa

  24.9.2002 14:29 #2

• VCDjunkie

  I will wait until KazaaLite ver 2.0 comes out.. not much of a spyware fan.

  24.9.2002 17:10 #3

• dejiray

  Kazaa lite 2 is out,same place

  24.9.2002 18:10 #4

• VCDjunkie

  nope, still not out yet.. just checked again http://www.kazaalite.com and http://www.zeropaid.com

  25.9.2002 03:34 #5

• Dela

  Sure it wont be long before there is a crack file to remove the kazaa spyware and addware. I use the normal kazaa only when I get a crack for it.

  25.9.2002 06:47 #6

• loaded

  Still a little fuzzy on exactly what this spyware is. Everyone is talking about it, but what does it actually do? (Spy, obviously, but what is the risk to users and how likely is anyone to use and disseminate the information held on 100,000,000 users?)
  
  By the way Dela, congratulations on your deserved quick ascension to senior member, you are a great help in the forums!
  
  Paul.

  25.9.2002 07:02 #7

• dRD

  Spyware basically spies on what websites you browse, how often you have sex, what food you eat and what kind of porn movies you watch. And sends that data to the Spyware author, who then determines what kind of advertisements he/she will popup for you -- typical example of this is that you go to google and search for, let's say, free mp3 downloads, spyware notices this and pops up a popup advertisement advertising some site/tool/whatever that relates to your search.
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  25.9.2002 07:10 #8

• Dela

  Thanx a lot loaded!!
  
  If anything should be illegal, its the use of spyware.
  
  

  25.9.2002 07:12 #9

• loaded

  Just an insidious marketing tool then. Does it run all the time, or only when you are logged onto Kazza, downloading stuff and browsing websites at the same time?
  
  Paul.
  
  By the way Dela, you're welcome and what is Dela?

  25.9.2002 07:23 #10

• dRD

  Nasty thing is that they really do run _all_ the time, whether Kazaa itself is running or not. Otherwise, as a publisher, I understand such tools perfectly -- man gotta make money and it is an easy way to deliver freeware software that doesn't require registration, but still makes money to the author of the software.
  
  But the problems are these three:
  
  -when you install a software that comes bundled with spyware, your installer SHOULD say it very, very, VERY clearly, not hidden into EULA that no one ever reads, but to say it with <font size=FRIGGING-BIG> like this "This software is free of charge, because it comes bundled with a software that collects information about your browsing habits and delivers unsolicied advertisements to your desktop based on this data. If you don't like this idea, don't install this software."
  
  -spyware should only run whe the software that it comes bundled with, is running
  
  -it is stealing from webmasters to launch a popup window when spyware notices that someone is browsing a specific site -- think about situation where you come to AfterDawn.com and spyware notices this and pops up a full-sized window with some other DVD ripping site on it -- this can be considered "customer hijacking", which itself is immoral.
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  25.9.2002 07:29 #11

• Dela

  WHAT IS DELA???????????
  
  My last name is Delahunty
  people just started calling me Dela so kinda stuck

  25.9.2002 07:32 #12

• loaded

  OK, that is very clear now and extremely helpful. I know we are way off video topics, but I have Kazza and use it rarely. Is there a way to stop this spyware from running consistently, eg would an uninstall of Kazza work, followed by loading alternative p2p software without spyware?
  
  And by the way dela, it all makes sense now. In England de la is usually in between first and second name of cabaret dancers!
  
  just kidding :-)
  
  Paul.

  25.9.2002 07:38 #13

• Dela

  Well isn't that hilarious!!!!
  
  Wait for a while if you have kazaa vers 2.0 but if your using the old one then you should be able to get a crack to kill it.

  25.9.2002 07:41 #14

• dRD

  loaded: Ad-aware removes all the crap from your PC that relates to spyware.
  
  http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  25.9.2002 07:55 #15

• Dela

  Theres only one problem though drD. If you remove kazaa's spyware without replacing it with a dummy file, kazaa will not run

  25.9.2002 08:00 #16

• dRD

  True. But there's already Kazaa Lite v2 out:
  
  http://ftp.freenet.de/pub/mpex/windows/kazaa_lite_200_english.exe
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  25.9.2002 08:05 #17

• Dela

  I dunno why but id just rather use kazaa.
  
  I just removed spyware from kazaa v2.0 i think. Same trick again, replace cd_clint.dll in your system32 folder and replace it with a patch.
  
  

  25.9.2002 08:11 #18

• loaded

  Dela, sorry for any offence, just kidding ;-)
  
  Guys, thanks for the tips, I will strip my Kazza down and kill that pesky secret agent.
  
  Paul.

  25.9.2002 08:54 #19

• Dela

  Ah no prop paul. No offense was caused

  25.9.2002 08:56 #20

• Snarf420

  What are the differences between Kazaa and KazaaLite? And are they both made and offered by the same company (Sharman)? And why have I never seen a spot to download Lite at the Kazaa website? Are the files offered the same for both? Thanks, Chris

  27.9.2002 11:35 #21

• dRD

  KazaaLite is basically an illegal version of Kazaa that is the same software, just without spyware.
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  27.9.2002 13:36 #22

• VCDjunkie

  yeah, but there are many people, including myself, that believe that spyware should not be legal to begin with. I believe we are all entitled to our privacy, especially considering the amount of personal information that we keep in our pc's these days. What I especially don't like is the fact that kazaa does not give you a choice of purchasing a non-spyware version of the software as opposed to the free/ad oriented spyware version.. I think it would be worth the money to purchase it if they did.. but since they don't offer it, that leaves me no choice because I won't allow my privacy to be compromised.

  27.9.2002 16:46 #23

• VCDjunkie

  Wait a second, I just found this on kazaa's website.. very interesting indeed, they are now stating that they have "NO SPYWARE" in kazaa media desktop.
  
  http://www.kazaa.com/us/privacy/spyware.htm
  
  Hmm... I think this totally changes my mind on the subject. Now the question is whether or not its true.. I will put it to the test later by running ad-aware first to make sure I am spyware free to begin with, then installing Kazaa 2.0, then running ad-aware again to see if this is true.

  27.9.2002 16:49 #24

• dRD

  Big bullsh*t to say it nicely. They've actually just gone worse -- to "stealware":
  
  http://slashdot.org/articles/02/09/27/084209.shtml?tid=98
  
  (news item coming up shortly on this issue to aD as well :-)
  

  Petteri Pyyny
  Webmaster
  http://AfterDawn.com/

  27.9.2002 20:05 #25

• omg!

  http://baixaki.ig.com.br/sabermais.asp?cod=5596
  kazaalite 2.0 its in portuguese thou.
  

  .

  3.10.2002 10:11 #26