p2p

Many of us have used peer-to-peer file-sharing programs that allow us to connect to networks with thousands of other users, sharing music, movies, and more. What if you could take that same concept and shrink it down so that the only people on the network were the ones you invited? Retroshare allows you to do just that. This simple program lets users create private file-sharing networks for the easy transfer of files between friends, family, or co-workers--and no one else.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive, with its major features represented by graphical buttons. Adding other people to … Read more

Hermes P2P from Mp3Torpedo bills itself as "the fastest file-sharing program in the world," an assertion mirrored in its name, that of the wing-footed messenger of the Greek gods. Though some might argue with the claim, citing the many factors that determine file-sharing speed, there's no doubt it's one of the fastest free peer-to-peer (P2P) clients out there. It's an adware-free, Java-based, BitTorrent Pro-compatible application that works with a proprietary embedded tracker or an external tracker. You can add multitracker information to your torrents as well as add hashes for other networks such as Gnutella … Read more

VIP Torrent from VIP Rumor is one of the many free peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing applications in the crowded P2P scene. Like the others, it enables you to share and download large music, movies, data, and software files as smaller "bits" in fast, efficient "torrents" via P2P networks; any file that used to require big, expensive servers to host is a search and a click away with BitTorrent technology. VIP Torrent offers the full complement of typical BitTorrent client features, such as the ability to pause and automatically resume interrupted downloads, advanced searching, disk caching, automatic port … Read more

Among the reasons people are cutting back on sharing music illegally on peer-to-peer sites is that some have sated their need for songs, according to a NPD Group survey.

Russ Crupnick, a senior analyst with the research firm, said last week at the Digital Music East Forum that the company saw a 25 percent decline in illegal downloading in the United States via P2P sites during 2009.

"You have a lot of people who have built up their collections," Crupnick said. "They are filled up with both paid music and unpaid and it is something like 'I … Read more

Most of us are familiar with peer-to-peer file-sharing programs like Limewire, which allow users to connect directly with other people on the network to share music, movies, and other types of media. This type of file sharing can be fun and useful, but it also has its drawbacks; you never know if you're downloading what you actually think you are, and sometimes what you end up with is downright malicious. GigaTribe takes the concept of P2P file sharing and makes it more intimate; this ingenious program allows you to set up a private P2P network with your friends.

If … Read more

uTorrent 2.0 went gold a few days ago, and the latest stable version of the incredibly popular torrent client introduces several useful new features for those who haven't been playing around with the beta.

The first and most technical, but also most important, is the introduction of uTP. The uTorrent Protocol will natively prevent one person's connection from crowding out all the others. In a blog post, Simon Morris, the vice president of product management for uTorrent's parent company BitTorrent, predicted that uTP would result in faster average download speeds. This network congestion mitigation could result … Read more

We had the pleasure of chatting with Jared Cohen, Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today. He gave us some more insight into Secretary Clinton's speech about the freedom on the Internet, specifically relating to China. We also clarify that Verizon is not booting people off the Internet--but apparently Cox is. So take all that stuff we wrote yesterday about Verizon and just put Cox in there.

Joining us is Jared Cohen, Senior Advisor to Secretary of State Clinton’… Read more

As we close the book on 2009 and ready for 2010, a legal settlement takes us back to 2007 and 2008, when Comcast got into trouble with customers and the feds for throttling peer-to-peer traffic on its network.

Comcast has agreed to pay $16 million to end to a class action lawsuit alleging the broadband provider promised and advertised certain download and upload speeds, but blocked peer-to-peer traffic on its high-speed Internet network.

"Comcast denies these claims, but has revised its management of P2P and is settling to avoid the burden and cost of further litigation," according to … Read more

Clickster offers users a free and fast way to track down MP3s. While its results were a little scattered, the program lives up to its billing by finding free and legal songs online.

Clickster's interface is easy to navigate, though it took a few practice runs to decipher all the odd-looking command icons. Regardless, after a couple minutes we felt intimately familiar with this program's operations. Clickster operates similarly to other software that searches for MP3s, such as the infamous Napster. You merely need to enter a song title or an artist to begin your search. This is … Read more