If you are an active MusicCity Morpheus user, you probably sat staring at your computer for a few days last week, disgruntled to no end at the fact that the highly popular P2P software network was down. Streamcast CEO Steve Griffin's message on the MusicCity homepage indicates that the Morpheus network was attacked by the protocol it runs on, called Fast Track. Although it does seem quite odd that a program's own base software could turn on it, this is a good approximation of the series of events that led to new versions of software for three current file-sharing leaders.
File-sharing companies have a bad record when going up against the music and movie industry. Napster is clinging to counterclaims that the music community acted in monopolistic fashion in singling them out, while introducing their own music-sharing networks. While a judge has accepted this possibility, it does not change the fact that Napster remains down, and that they will almost definitely be forced to pay many millions of dollars anyway. Scour also shut down after facing a dual suit by the music and movie industries.
Consumer Empowerment, the Dutch company originally behind Fast Track and Kazaa BV, has been pursued by both US and Dutch courts. But they've tried a different approach: instead of shutting down, they sold Kazaa to the Australian company Sharman Networks Limited in January. At that point, three different companies were running off the Fast Track protocol: Kazaa, Morpheus and Grokster. All three of them are named defendants in another case.
Both Kazaa and Grokster downloads are also equipped with what is known as spyware. This is software that runs in the background and sends out unauthorized statistics from your computer to the internet whenever you are connected. These stats may include your e-mail addresses, which software programs your run and which websites you visit, and they are made available to advertising agencies, which in turn will spam your inbox like hell. Morpheus has publicly attacked spyware, and continues to provide their software without it.
Enter the now infamous Fast Track upgrade from 1.3 to 1.5. Fast Track-based file-sharers have hoped to win court battles on the fact that their protocol is decentralized, avoiding Napster's main pitfall. However, version 1.5 includes code that makes the protocol into a centralized network. This means that Grokster and Kazaa can now easily be tried in court, using the Napster case as precedent. Streamcast disagreed with this new code, obviously in its own self-interests as a named defendant. The new code also makes it possible for the central part of the network to act in the spyware process. They did not upgrade their software to include it and, as a result, all Morpheus users were kicked off the Fast Track network.
Kazaa proclaimed itself king for a week, as its software beat out Morpheus for once. It also provided software to migrate former Morpheus users' info into the Kazaa software, if they chose to download it to get back on the network. Morpheus eventually released its new Preview Edition at the beginning of this week, and has since reclaimed its number one position in download rankings. However, the new version runs off of the slower Gnutella protocol, used by other file-sharers like BearShare and LimeWire. Gnutella has the bonus of being totally decentralized.
The strife of fervent competition aside, Morpheus, Kazaa and Grokster are in for much more trouble. On Monday, a trial date was set for the three for Oct. 1. This will be the first time that a jury hears a file-sharing case.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.