What do you think of p2p file sharing?

[neoteric lefty]

Give me your thoughts...

[Brundle_Fly]

1. It's legal here in Canada...

downloading music anyways, at least for now.

[Must_B_Free]

2. too much abuse

people spying on you to serve yuou with lawsuits, viruses... too much waiting for things that aren't there...

[MercutioATC]

3. P2P is fine. Some of its USES are theft, though.

Downloading music or programs without compensating the license holder or without having their permission is theft, plain and simple.

[rfkrfk]

9. Not theft, a separate law

There are many music files, of which I have no knowledge
of a claim of copyright. Without such knowledge, I feel no
prohibition on copying a file. Should the copyright
holder legitimately inform me that 'this or that' is copyrighted,
I would stop.

[MercutioATC]

16. That wouldn't be "without having their permission"...

There ARE freeware programs and unlicensed music files available.

Most P2P downloads, however, are of copyrighted material.

[wickerwoman]

4. Theft when it involves copyrighted materials,

but not worth the time and energy to regulate.

The industry needs to adapt with the technology. If they think people are going to go back to paying $15 for a CD with one good song and 55 minutes of filler just because they make laws against file-sharing, they're deluding themselves.

[McKenzie]

5. how to get a trojan in seconds

wouldn't go near it for that reason. And if one reads about the history of early versions of Kazaa...

[bloodyjack]

6. Yeah but who uses Kazaa anymore?

There are plenty of better p2p networks out there w/ greater variety.

no one should kazaa anymore unless he wants to get lost in a pornographic sea.

[McKenzie]

8. hmmm...any recommendations?

I can usually find anything, well pratically anything, by searching so don't know much about P2P. However, P2P seems to be a fav topic of discussion amongst my geek friends. Which P2P proggie would you recommend that is free of spyware, malware etc? Never researched this subject much.

[bloodyjack]

10. I usually use soulseek and emule

http://www.slsknet.org (solely musick, but MAN if there isn't anything you can't find on it)

http://www.emule-project.net (moviez, etexts, archives, software, etc)

both these networks are GREAT for finding fairly obscure stuff as well as more popular items AND they don't screw you over w/ spyware and browser toolbars and all of that crap

edit: a lot of folks here will also probably recommend limewire and they will absolutely swear by D++

[McKenzie]

11. bookmarked the music one - thnx n/t

[chenGOD]

13. Soulseek is more than music btw....

But it's often not worth downloading movies/apps from there as it takes ages.

bittorrent is what it's all about for large files.

[bloodyjack]

15. well, yeah, you're right

but as you said, for anything other than music it's a waste of time

also bittorrent is the WAVE OF THE FUTURE

Napster's also quite good I hear :o

[Khephra]

7. Bittorrent is your friend

I use it to sample things that you can't normally sample (anime that isn't shown here in the states but out on DVD and bands that you just can't hear in a town like Indy) so I know if it's something I want to buy. Same with music. For music and videos, I want the best quality, and that's usually not possible with P2P--but it does let me sample things before I buy them that aren't usually possible to sample. And then I go out and buy the real deal for the best quality.

Oh, and there's a lot of non-copyrighted stuff out there that's great too. I've found a lot of non-copyrighted political speeches and stuff over the years.

[ForrestGump]

12. Was recently a Limewire user. Lately xFactor (combines most of those

networks for the Mac). Recently graduated to BitTorrent -- mainly downloading music through tracking sites (easytree.com being the main one) that stipulate that the material has to be not released officially. Bootlegs, in other words, in the traditional sense of the word in the rock world (i.e., unreleased material).

Today I burned (on my laptop) my first DVDs ever, from material downloaded from easytree (man, I bought 50 DVD-Rs for $19.99...a couple or three years ago they were going for a ton of money for each disc...I was too afraid to use them before now). Got myself Paul McCartney in Red Square and Bruce Springsteen in Toronto (1984). I am endlessly impressed. I ahve also filled up my considerable hard-disk space with stuff in the process of downloading. :-)

You've got to be patient, but torrent files are where it's at if you want the really good stuff. I'm a big fan now.

Check out this sampling of the gems that I've downloaded lately while working (wireless!) on my computer (and, indeed, while away from my computer):

AUDIO
Elvis Presley (live in Las Vegas, August, 1973)
Elvis Presley (on tour in March and April, 1977)
Elvis Presley (most of his great 1969 Memphis recordings - already had a lot of the unreleased outtakes but when I finish these ten disks I'll have about all that's survived for every song recorded)
The Beatles - tons of audio material from the "Let It Be" sessions, with more on the way (some I already had, but this is better quality)
The Beatles (on Swedish Radio, 1963)
The Beatles (half of the "Unsurpassed Masters" series already in hand)
The Beatles (Vancouver and Hollywood Bowl, August, 1964)
The Beatles ("It's Not Too Bad" - the evolution of "Strawberry Fields Forever")
Paul McCartney (Charlotte, 1993)
Paul McCartney (Arnhem, Holland, 2003, on 2 CDs)
Paul McCartney (Bridge School benefit, 10/24/04...downloaded just a few days after the show)
Paul McCartney & Wings ("Unsurpassed Masters" series)
Paul McCartney and Wings (Melbourne, 1975)
Paul McCartney and Wings (Glasgow, 1979, and the 1979 Concert For The People Of Kampuchea, on two CDs)
John Lennon (some of the "Complete Lost Lennon Tapes" series)
James Brown (Bridgeport, 1987, on two CDs)
Otis Redding (Stockholm, 1967)
Ray Charles (Paris, 2000)
Stevie Ray Vaughn (Amsterdam, 1983, on 2 CDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn ("Accolades" - live and studio, 1979-1985, on four CDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn and Buddy Guy (jamming together in Chicago, 1979)
Bruce Springsteen (1/15/85, on 2 CDs)
Lynyrd Skynyrd (Osaka, 1977)
Leon Russell & Elton John (Fillmore East, 11/70, on two CDs)
Elton John (London, December, 1973, on two CDs)
Spinal Tap (outtakes, live, and other great stuff)
Lyle Lovett (St Paul, 1992, on two CDs)
Lyle Lovett (Austin 1993, on two CDs)
The Doors (Isle Of Wight, 1970)
Stevie Wonder (London, 1974, on 2 CDs)
Roy Orbison Tribute (LA, 1990, on three CDs)
Al Green and Ike & Tina Turner (from 1972, 1974, and 1975)
Santana (Los Angeles and San Diego, 1971, on two CDs)
U2 (Adelaide, 1993, on 2 CDs)

VIDEO
The Beatles - three volumes of video rarities (VCDs)
Stevie Ray Vaughn (Tokyo, 1985, on two VCDs)
Paul McCartney in Red Square (5/24/03, DVD -- in PAL, but it plays on my computer)
Bruce Springsteen (Toronto, 1984, plus bonus footage from other venues and '80s dates on DVD)

Among those I'm trying to get now (gotta be persistent) are a 1975 Skynyrd show, a compilation CD of Bruce doing Elvis songs, the famous 1968 Boston concert that James Brown gave after MLK's death (been having problems with those files), very early Van Halen from the '70s (including them playing at a community college in Pasadena -- never will a Van Hagar tune cross my computer's portal), more Beatles and Elvis (and John and Paul), the Blues Brothers live in 1978 (supposedly very good), more from the likes of U2 and Stevie Ray, Marvin Gaye live in 1979, the Doobie Brothers in Memphis in 1975...there's just a lot of cool stuff out there. Most of it languishing in obscurity because it was never released or aired (or rebroadcast).

Of course, I've been too busy to look at even a fraction of the stuff I'v e so far successfully downloaded, but it's great to have and I've enjoyed what little I've heard (or, in the case of the excellent Bruce DVD today, seen). I've also got familial connections to several of these performers, some very strongly, so those involved are probably going to like having copies of such pristine (all of the ones I've thus far downloaded have been soundboard or broadcast recordings) documents of events that they were actually part of.

[cleofus1]

14. used to do it all the time....

I felt guilty and a little scared...now I use I-Tunes (which rocks)
I have a clear conscience and an empty wallet...99 cents a pop ads up baby!