Google pulls links to Kazaa imitator

[chasqui]

Google pulls links to Kazaa imitator
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 2, 2003, 10:13 AM PT

In response to a legal threat that invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Google has removed from its index eight sites that distribute a hacked version of file-swapping service Kazaa. The popular search engine took action last month after it received a legal notification from Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa, claiming that the eight sites contained software that violated the company's "exclusive rights" under U.S. copyright law.
The software, Kazaa Lite, is an unauthorized copy of Kazaa with the pop-up ads removed. These advertisements, often called "spyware," appear every few minutes and cannot be turned off.
Because Sharman Networks receives revenue from those advertisements, it's seeking to force peer-to-peer users to connect using only authorized copies of the software. Another incentive for the company to block illicit versions of Kazaa is that it sells a paid version--without advertisements--called Kazaa Plus that's similar to Kazaa Lite. Last week, Sharman Networks and Avalon Online Distribution, a subsidiary of software publishing company Titus Interactive Group, released an updated version of Kazaa Plus for $29.95.
Google responded to Sharman Networks' notification by including a warning at the bottom of pages that appear when the term "kazaa" is typed in: "In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed eight result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results."

Read the rest here:
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5070227.html

Note: I googled 'Kazaa lite' and I got hits.

[Not a robought]

1. Greetings black pot!

Have you met the black kettle?

[frylock]

2. best way to cheese off sharman..

is to use Kazaa to download Kazaa Lite!!

[arwalden]

3. Isn't That RICH? Linking Back To The Original Complaint...

... to display all the URL's that were removed.

LOL! ROFLMAO!

Very cool.

-- Allen

[catmandu57]

4. I tried to get to kazaa lite

yesterday, but the page wouldn't display.

[Il_Coniglietto]

5. Yup, still there

I googled Kazaa Lite. Very funny to see the headline 'Google pulls links to Kazaa imitator' and then scroll down a bit and see many links are still available.

Like it says in the article, whenever you search for Kazaa on google, this comes up at the bottom: "In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed 9 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results."

These are the removed results (It's been requested that I ask you to blind yourself immmediately after reading them):

a. http://www.kazaagold.com
b. http://mp3download.com
c. http://www.kazaalite.tk
d. http://www.kaaza.com
e. http://doa2.host.sk
f. http://www.k-lite.tk
g. http://www.kazaa-file-sharing-downloads.com
h. http://www.kazaalite.nl
i. http://home/hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm
j. http://www.kazaa-download.de
k. http://www.zeropaid.com
l. http//www.kazaalite.nl/downloads.htm
m. http://kazaa.infos-du-net.com
n. http://www.kazaa-lite.tk
o. http://www.kazaa-lite.info

Now don't go to any of these sites...

Of course, you can use the same method used back in the Napster days...type in Kaza, Kaazaa, Kaaza, Kazza, Kazzaa. They all work :)

[w4rma]

6. Folks really should buy Kazaa Plus instead of using Kazaa Lite.

If folks don't do that, then Kazaa won't stay in buisness and the peer-to-peer network that has been created will either fall apart or shrink.

[Il_Coniglietto]

7. I see what you're saying

and I still use Kazaa (not the other two since I can't afford to pay for it and I'm not bothered by adverts too much). But do you really expect that many people to pay for the service when the most likely reason they are downloading things is to skip the paying part? Just like with Napster and AudioGalaxy, once they go down, more pop up. It's a tough business, sure, but I think you have to get on the good side of the "customers" to do well. I don't know how widespread this news is, but I don't think this is the way to do it.

And as Nota_Robought mentioned, this whole thing is rather hypocritical anyway. Copyright suddenly matters to Sharman?

[NekoChris]

9. GOOD RIDDENCE

I -refuse- to use Kazaa. I was always told 'try kazaa lite' but, enh.

I have enough P2P programs to worry about as it is.

WinMX is a rather nice one, and I swear by eDonkey/eMule/Overnet.

Kazaa isn't the only P2P program out there.

And on top of that, those others? >FREE<. Yeah, they have popups, but I've heard no complaints about them ( As of yet ). Well, eDonkey has them. WinMX doesn't.

[MercutioATC]

8. Forget all that. Kazaa Lite +++ blocks IP's too...

Safer than Kazaa or Kazaa Lite