Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com Download Squad http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/%SiteURL%/media/feedlogo.gif Download Squad http://www.downloadsquad.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Asinine lawsuit from French music interests targets Sourceforge]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/15/asinine-lawsuit-from-french-music-interests-target-sourceforge/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/15/asinine-lawsuit-from-french-music-interests-target-sourceforge/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/11/15/asinine-lawsuit-from-french-music-interests-target-sourceforge/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Torrent Freak reported yesterday that the SPFF -- think of it as the French RIAA -- filed lawsuits against the developers of P2P clients Vuze, Limewire, and Morpheus. There is also a fourth target, and I'll get to that particular bit of insanity later.

The SPFF's beef is with the fact that these programs don't provide a system to block copyright protected materials from being shared. Because the programs don't prevent files from being shared, the SPFF argues that the programs are complicit in the act itself.

It's the same flawed P2P argument that agencies have been making for the last decade. This "making available" argument has failed to hold up in US court cases against individual users.

To claim that the developers of these programs are responsible for what their users decide to do with it is pure idiocy. If someone were to author a subversive plot to overthrow the French government using OpenOffice Writer, would there be a lawsuit filed against Sun? OK, don't answer that...

The kicker: Rather than actually going after those who develop the fourth app (Shareaza), the SPFF decided to sue SourceForge - who merely provide hosting for Shareaza's project files. SourceForge has absolutely nothing to do with the actual development of the program.

When I read this, I started having visions of the SPFF headquarters looking like something out of Bizarro World from the old Superfriends cartoon. Clearly the only people that could hatch a scheme like this would be badly animated super villains.

I'm sure there's no possible way this fiasco could backfire on the French music industry. After all, I think we can all agree that the P2P community is usually very good about knuckling under to threats from coporate interests.

In an unrelated note, I have to check uTorrent to see if my downloads are finished.

Asinine lawsuit from French music interests targets Sourceforge originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittlawsuitp2priaasourceforgeSat, 15 Nov 2008 15:45:00 EST<![CDATA[Vuze 4: Combining legal, less legal BitTorrent networks]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/16/vuze-4-combining-legal-less-legal-bittorrent-networks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/16/vuze-4-combining-legal-less-legal-bittorrent-networks/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/16/vuze-4-combining-legal-less-legal-bittorrent-networks/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Vuze 4
Remember Azureus? Once upon a time it was one of the most popular BitTorrent clients around. And then the company behind the software tried to build a business model around it by going legit and partnering with content companies to offer free and paid BitTorrent downloads.

The problem is that the people who were already familiar with Azureus, which was renamed Zudeo and then Vuze, were used to getting their media for free, so it's a bit tricky trying to convince them to pay. A few months back, Vuze tried to make its platform a bit more attractive by adding social features. But more importantly, Vuze 3.1 made it easier to search for videos hosted on sites besides Vuze. So you could find legal videos, but you could also search sites like Btjunkie and Mininova for slightly less legal files.

Vuze 4 was released this week, and like in Vuze 3.1, the Torrent search box is front and center, making it almost easier to find illegally shared videos than the legit cntent from the "Vuze HD Network" that Vuze really wants you to find. The goal is undoubtedly to attract back some of the BitTorrent users who have fond memories of Azureus but have since migrated to other platforms with a slick client that lets you search for, download, manage, and even watch videos from a variety of sites.

The paid downloads seem to be gone, but select content in the Vuze HD Network (not all of which is available in high definition, by the way), is ad-supported. For example, you can watch Season 1 of Dexter for free if you're willing to put up with a few ads. And if you don't bother trying to download the ad-free DVD rips from another site first.

[via NewTeeVee]

Vuze 4: Combining legal, less legal BitTorrent networks originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>azureusbittorentonline-videop2pvuzevuze-4.0Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Jay's Favorite Mac Apps: Transmission]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/14/jays-favorite-mac-apps-transmission/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/14/jays-favorite-mac-apps-transmission/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/14/jays-favorite-mac-apps-transmission/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Now that torrent technology has become one of the most popular ways to distribute large files, it's important to find the right Bittorrent client. If you're on a Mac, that's Transmission. I used to be a fan of Azureus (now called Vuze), but I switched to Transmission because it's less cluttered and takes up a lot less screen real-estate.

Transmission's not bare-bones in terms of features -- you can fine-tune your upload and download speeds, change ports, and check your ratio -- but its design is minimal and not too distracting. I don't want a busy-looking torrent app, I want one that I can set up quickly and leave alone until my downloads finish. Transmission provides that, while still letting advanced users get under the hood where they need to. It's also free and open source! That's why it's one of my favorite Mac apps.

Jay's Favorite Mac Apps: Transmission originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentbittorrentclientdownloadsfavorite-appsmacos xOsXp2ptransmissionTue, 14 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[TorrentFly enters the multi-site torrent search fray]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/10/torrentfly-enters-the-multi-site-torrent-search-fray/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/10/torrentfly-enters-the-multi-site-torrent-search-fray/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/10/10/torrentfly-enters-the-multi-site-torrent-search-fray/#commentsFiled under: , ,


There are several options out now for users that want to search several engines at once for torrrent downloads. My current favorite is still uSniff, but I'm always on the lookout for something newer and better.

Thanks to a persistent commenter, I found out about TorrentFly this morning and decided to check it out.

TorrentFly will search up to twelve sites at once (Sumotorrent, Mininova, PirateBay, Monova, NewTorrents, SeedPeer, Fenopy, TorrentZ, MyBitTorrent, BtJunkie, TorrentHound, Idealtorrent) and you can select which engines you'd like to search.

You're also able to set your preferred column to sort and number of results per page. Clicking any column heading will re-sort your results by health, name, size, seeds, peers, or engine.

Continue reading TorrentFly enters the multi-site torrent search fray

TorrentFly enters the multi-site torrent search fray originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentsearchtorrentFri, 10 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Mistrial for RIAA's first file-sharing victory]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/25/mistrial-for-riaas-first-file-sharing-victory/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/25/mistrial-for-riaas-first-file-sharing-victory/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/25/mistrial-for-riaas-first-file-sharing-victory/#commentsFiled under: ,

Back in October of 2007, a federal jury ruled in favor of the RIAA and fined the defendant, Jammie Thomas, an outrageous $220,000.00 US for sharing 24 songs on a P2P network. Not surprisingly, Ms. Thomas filed an appeal. Her case was indirectly strengthened when a New York federal judge ruled that the RIAA could not strictly sue individuals under the "making available" claim -- the argument that merely making a file available to download constitutes subjects the user to copyright infringement and punitive penalties -- they would have to prove the person actually downloaded said files. Yesterday, a Minnesota federal judge declared a mistrial in the Jammie Thomas case, effectively setting the RIAA's court victory record back to zero.

The basis of the mistrial were the jury instructions. Initially Judge Michael Davis instructed jurors that could find Thomas guilty of copyright infringement if copyrighted MP3s were made available via a peer-to-peer network, "regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown."

In August, Judge Davis had a change of heart and called both sides back to court, requesting arguments over the "make available" claim. With yesterday's decision, Jude Davis ruled that the jury instructions were "erroneous, and that error substantially prejudiced Thomas' rights."

Although a mistrial was declared, the case was not dismissed with prejudice, meaning the RIAA can sue Thomas on the same grounds, assuming they can make the argument that actual distribution, and that Thomas was responsible for infringing downloads.

On page 41 of the 44 page ruling, Judge Davis also commented on the extraordinary punitive damages in this case:
"The Court would be remiss if it did not take this opportunity to implore Congress to amend the Copyright Act to
address liability and damages in peer‐ to‐peer network cases such as the one currently before this Court." We can only hope Congress listens.

The complete ruling can be downloaded here.



[via Tech Dirt]

Mistrial for RIAA's first file-sharing victory originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>jammie thomasJammieThomaslawp2priaaThu, 25 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Download Like a Pirate Day]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/19/download-like-a-pirate-day/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/19/download-like-a-pirate-day/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/19/download-like-a-pirate-day/#commentsFiled under:

Watch carefully.. I'm about to talk like a pirate.

Arrh. Avast. Shiver me.. oh forget it.

It's officially "Talk Like a Pirate Day" the world over. Talking like a pirate is kinda lame. It's been done. It's so 2004. Since we've had it up to here with co-workers and their clever attempts to recreate a pirate past that never was a cute or cuddly as the fantasy pirates of today, we decided to go a different direction.

Welcome to Download Squad's "Download Like a Pirate Day". It's just like that other day except, well, lot's and lots better. We'll keep you fat and happy throughout the day with ways to download your fill, even ways to feel like a pirate without breaking any copyrights.

Check out some of our recent posts on burning up your bandwidth and watch throughout the day for more great ideas to keep you downloading like a pirate.

Download Like a Pirate Day originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>downloadpiracytalk like a piratetalk like a pirate dayTalkLikeAPirateTalkLikeAPirateDaytorrentsFri, 19 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Taxpayers to Foot The Bill for MPAA Lawsuits?]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/17/taxpayers-to-foot-the-bill-for-mpaa-lawsuits/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/17/taxpayers-to-foot-the-bill-for-mpaa-lawsuits/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/17/taxpayers-to-foot-the-bill-for-mpaa-lawsuits/#commentsFiled under: ,

As DownloadSquad gears up for "Download Like a Pirate Day" this Friday, it appears as though our friends from the MPAA and the boys on Capitol Hill are also hard at work. The U.S. Senate appears ready to give Bill S. 3325 - the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Act of 2008 - the green light as early as today.

A quick look at this article by Alex Curtis and this open letter from twelve different advocacy groups will provide some insight into the proposed bill.

Why should you care? Well, for starters, S. 3325 would allow the Department of Justice to sue offenders in civil court. That's a bad thing. A really bad thing.

First, it means taxpayers are footing the bill while the DOJ does MPAA dirty work. Not good. Second, defendants are guaranteed free legal representation. Third, there only has to be a "preponderance of evidence," which is not nearly the same as "beyond a reasonable doubt." As a kicker, it looks as though fines for violation would be doubled.

Over at OpenCongress there appears to be a lot of buzz about this one (64 blog posts and growing), and rightfully so.

Holy crap. The MPAA has filed 30,000 suits over the past five years. Do you really want to pick up the tab?

For the truly interested, you can view the bill's text here. Read up, and then call your Senator. You can use Cause Caller to contact members of the Senate Judiciary, find and call your own senator, or send a fax.

[via BoingBoing]

Taxpayers to Foot The Bill for MPAA Lawsuits? originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>copyrightmpaapiracyWed, 17 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Remobo: VPN, Chat, Filesharing, Remote Control All-In-One!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/remobo-vpn-chat-filesharing-remote-control-all-in-one/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Hamachi is a great app. So is VNC. Torrents are great, too. You see where I'm going. These are all great on their own - so when Remobo rolled them all in to one, tasty package, I was pretty excited.

Set it up, add your buddies, and you've got an instant, private P2P network. Click the My Shared Files link and create torrents of your folders and files with two clicks. When your buddies view your shares, they'll see a simple web page with links to the torrent downloads. It's simple, and it works quite well.

Clicking windows file sharing on a buddy will display their Windows file and printer shares (like Hamachi does). File access speeds (even over my sluggish DSL) are good, and at least on par with Hamachi's free offering.

Continue reading Remobo: VPN, Chat, Filesharing, Remote Control All-In-One!

Remobo: VPN, Chat, Filesharing, Remote Control All-In-One! originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>p2ppeer to peerPeerToPeertorrentvncvpnThu, 14 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Wuala P2P online storage service goes live]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/14/wuala-p2p-online-storage-service-goes-live/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Wuala
Wuala is a social file storage application that we first looked at back in February. At the time, Wuala was in private beta, but starting today anyone can sign up for an account.

Unlike other file storage/sharing services, Wuala doesn't provide you with web space. Rather, your files are encrypted and then stored on the computers of other Wuala users. While this might sound a bit scary, the upshot is that you can store large amounts of data. The more space you allocate for Wuala on your hard drive, the more online space you can access. And your files are duplicated on multiple computers so that you shouldn't have problems accessing your files even if some of the folks in your network have turned their machines off for the night.

Wuala has a desktop client for Windows, Mac, and Linux that you can use to upload and download files. Or you can access a web interface. The service is still in beta, so nobody's promising that all the kinks have been worked out. But as of today, Wuala is in public beta, not private.

Wuala P2P online storage service goes live originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>backupfile-storageonline-storagestoragewua.lawualaThu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Upload, Share, and Mirror in One Step With Rapidspread]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/rapidspread-rapidshare-upload-mirror/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/rapidspread-rapidshare-upload-mirror/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/rapidspread-rapidshare-upload-mirror/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


There are plenty of great places to upload and share files, so why not use a bunch of them all at once?

Rapidspread is a a simple file upload site that automatically forwards your files to as many as 10 filesharing sites. From the upload page, simply browse for your file(s), agree to the terms of service, and click share. Once the upload is complete, RapidSpread displays a URL to send to your friends as well as direct links to your file on the supported hosts it's been transferred to.

My test rar file successfully uploaded to eight of the ten possible hosts - not too shabby. When I chose to upload several images, RapidSpread was even smart enough to limit mirroring to the media-sharing services (ImageShack, Badongo, ZShare, and ZippyShare).

Anyone that uploads files on a regular basis will appreciate the simplicity and power of RapidSpread. If the developers would just intergrate a short URL service like bit.ly, this would be a truly killer service. Give it a shot, and see how it stacks up against your favorite service.

Thanks for the tip, Eran!

Upload, Share, and Mirror in One Step With Rapidspread originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>file sharingFileSharingmedia sharingMediaSharingp2ppeerrapidshareuploadingMon, 04 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EFF launches tool to monitor ISPs for bad behavior]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/eff-launches-tool-to-monitor-isps-for-bad-behavior/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/eff-launches-tool-to-monitor-isps-for-bad-behavior/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/08/04/eff-launches-tool-to-monitor-isps-for-bad-behavior/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is protecting your rights online again, this time with a tool called Switzerland. Switzerland lets you check your ISPs compliance with net neutrality, making sure they're not trying to shut down specific kinds of traffic, like BitTorrent and VOIP. Naturally, Switzerland is Open Source.

It's also a command-line tool, and still in alpha, so it's not necessarily for everyone. If you're comfortable with this kind of app, and you're concerned about your ISP's behavior, definitely give it a go. How exactly does it know whether your ISP is fiddling around with your bandwidth? The EFF says, "It will spot IP packets which are forged or modified between clients, inform you, and give you copies of the modified packets." It recognizes packets injected or modified by some of the most popular tools ISPs have been using to mess with p2p traffic, including SandVine and AudibleMagic.

EFF launches tool to monitor ISPs for bad behavior originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>BitTorrentComcasteffelectronic frontier ...ElectronicFrontier...ISPSwitzerlandMon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[BitTorrent streaming gets a test-run]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/20/bittorrent-streaming-gets-a-test-run/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/20/bittorrent-streaming-gets-a-test-run/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/20/bittorrent-streaming-gets-a-test-run/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Bittorrent has become pretty popular as an efficient, decentralized way of distributing large files, and now the same technology is being applied to streaming. P2P-Next is working on an experimental .tstream format that will share streaming video using a minimum of bandwidth. It works like a regular torrent -- users who have part of a file 'seed' it for download by other users -- but with a twist. Each user grabs the blocks of data that make up a video just before they need them to play the next minute of content, upload it to the next user right away, and then "undownload" it.

The undownload functionality turned out to be the key breakthrough for this project, since part of the appeal of streaming is that you don't have to keep a massive file on your hard drive all at once. The Tstream format has a little help gaining widespread adoption: one of the organizations currently testing it is the BBC. If you want to try it for yourself, check out this trial run of SwarmPlayer. Windows and Linux versions are out right now, and the Mac version is due next week.

[via Torrentfreak]

BitTorrent streaming gets a test-run originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>.tstreamBitTorrentp2pP2P-NextstreamingtorrentvideoSun, 20 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[YouTorrent is back, and it's bringing 67k legal torrents with it]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/18/youtorrent-is-back-and-its-bringing-67k-legal-torrents-with-it/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/18/youtorrent-is-back-and-its-bringing-67k-legal-torrents-with-it/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/18/youtorrent-is-back-and-its-bringing-67k-legal-torrents-with-it/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Attention, law-abiding citizens! If you believe in BitTorrent as a means of distribution for large files, but you're concerned about the claims of piracy that are often associated with it, you should take a look at YouTorrent. Despite having to shut down for a while because of legal issues, YouTorrent is back in operation, with a reported 67,170 torrents that are all legal to share.

YouTorrent is a meta-search that can find verified torrents across a number of popular torrent sites, including Jamendo, Vuze, BitTorrent, Legaltorrents, Legittorrents, Gameupdates, Wortharchiving, BT.etree and Mininova's featured torrents section. With all those sites combined, you can use YouTorrent to search over 6TB of data. This is a very good thing for the torrent community in general, as it shows how widely BitTorrent is used for non-piracy purposes.

[via TorrentFreak]

YouTorrent is back, and it's bringing 67k legal torrents with it originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentlegal torrentsLegalTorrentstorrenttorrent searchTorrentSearchYouTorrentsFri, 18 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Cabos is Limewire for Minimalists]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/cabos-gnutella-client-limewire-for-minimalists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/cabos-gnutella-client-limewire-for-minimalists/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/07/08/cabos-gnutella-client-limewire-for-minimalists/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


We've tried plenty of Gnutella clients that just aren't any good, and usually end up back with Frostwire or Limewire by default. Thankfully, Cabos has an excellent alternative for Windows and Mac users.

Cabos doesn't support torrents, and it doesn't have a built in media player, but who needs that anyway? Most of us have favorite apps for handling those files anyways, and Limewire probably isn't either of them. It simply searches the Gnutella network, displays your results, lets you filter and sort them six ways from Sunday, and downloads them quickly. It even offers basic iTunes integration.

There's no lime green splashed around the UI, just a tranquil, muted gray, and 21 languages are supported. It's totally ad-free and there are no nags - Cabos just does what you want it to and doesn't get in the way.

Cabos is Limewire for Minimalists originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>filesharinggnutellalimewirep2ppeer to peerPeerToPeerTue, 08 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[QTrax launches free, legal, and limited P2P music app]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/18/qtrax-launches-free-legal-and-limited-p2p-music-app/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Qtrax
Want to download popular music without paying and without breaking the law? Qtrax is a new advertising-supported service that lets you download music from two of the four major labels, Universal and EMI as well as several smaller labels. The service uses a modified version of the Songbird Media player to let you search or browse for music and download tracks. Some music willbe available through P2P connections while music from Universal and EMI will be hosted on Qtrax servers.

The files use Windows Media digital rights management and are designed to be played with the Qtrax media player. But once you play a song using the Qtrax software and acquire a valid license key, you shold be able to play it using the media player of your choice. The one thing you cannot do is transfer songs to a portable media device like an iPod. That makes sense, since Qtrax makes money by showing ads while you search for and listen to music. There's no particularly good way to do that on a mobile device.

The music selection is somewhat limited at the moment. Not only are Sony and Warner Music Group tracks missing, but there are plenty of albums that show up in the Qtrax interface even though the songs are not yet available for download. But since the service just launched in beta, we're willing to cut Qtrax some slack.

The Qtrax client is Windows only for now, but a Mac version is in the works.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

QTrax launches free, legal, and limited P2P music app originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>drmmusicqtraxtweet-thiswindows-mediaWed, 18 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Skype 4.0 beta puts video front and center, takes over your screen]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/17/skype-4-0-beta-puts-video-front-and-center-takes-over-your-scre/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Skype 4.0
Skype 4.0 beta for Windows is due out tomorrow. And this beta will represent a major shift for the VoIP client. While nearly a third of Skype calls are video, each version of Skype up until now has been designed with audio in mind. The client is small and easily resizeable and feels like an application for making phone calls. TechCrunch reports that Skype 4.0 beta will be a full screen application designed with video in mind.

The new version takes advantage of the larger window by spreading out the buttons a bit and adding support for new video features like picture in picture. There's also more room on the screen for text chat or for sharing files while conducting voice or video calls.

Skype 4.0 beta also features improved hardware deection and tools for testing your connection. But honestly, we're not convinced that this whole full-screen design is the way to go. There's no doubt that the updated Skype client looks like it will make video calls far more pleasant. But more than 70% of the calls placed on the Skype network are still audio-only. And we're guessing that a lot of the people placing those calls like to have a bit of space on their desktops to multitask while making phone calls.

Of course, if you're just using Skype for voice communication, you can always minimize the application while you're talking, web browsing, and playing World of WarCraft. Or whatever it is you do when you're on the phone.

Skype 4.0 beta puts video front and center, takes over your screen originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>skypeskype-4.0skype-4.0-betavideovideo-chatTue, 17 Jun 2008 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Vuze adds social features to BitTorrent video client]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/vuze-adds-social-features-to-bittorrent-video-client/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/vuze-adds-social-features-to-bittorrent-video-client/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/16/vuze-adds-social-features-to-bittorrent-video-client/#commentsFiled under: ,

Vuze 3.1
When Azureus launched the Vuze desktop video player with built in BitTorrent support last year, a lot of folks shrugged. A few checked out the new Vuze client, but many kept using the company's trusty old BitTorrent client. Now the company is killing off the standalone client and changing its name to Vuze. There's also a new version of the Vuze client which adds a few new features.

Probably the most significant change in Vuze 3.1 is support for searching multiple BitTorrent tracking web sites. Previously if you wanted to find a video, you could only search through the Vuze catalog of free and for-pay downloads. Now you can find a whole lot of results from other sites including Mininova and Sumotorrent as well. You can also add other sites to search simply by clicking the add/edit button.

Vuze 3.1 also adds some basic social networking features. Users can create profiles, add friends, and recommend torrents that they think their friends would like. There's no way to chat or see if your friends are online, so these social elements feel tacked on rather than tightly integrated into the experience.

When you install Vuze 3.1 you'll be asked to install a browser toolbar as well. Feel free to uncheck the box next to this option. The wording is a bit tricky since it makes it sound a bit like you need to accept the terms and install the toolbar to continue the installation. But this is not the case.

[via NewTeeVee]

Vuze adds social features to BitTorrent video client originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentvuzevuze-3.1Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Wiki lists legal uses of P2P software]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/08/wiki-lists-legal-uses-of-p2p-software/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/08/wiki-lists-legal-uses-of-p2p-software/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/08/wiki-lists-legal-uses-of-p2p-software/#commentsFiled under:

P2P wiki
It's no secret that people use peer to peer software like BitTorrent or Lime Wire to download copyrighted movies, music, and software. But that doesn't mean there aren't legitimate uses for the technology. Next time you need to explain to your ISP that while you've been using massive amounts of bandwidth, you haven't actually been doing anything illegal, you might want to check out this wiki listing legal uses of P2P software.

The wiki shows a rather impressive list of legitimate P2P applications, ranging from VoIP client Skype to FAROO, a search engine built using peer to peer technology. Of course, there are also plenty of sites offering legal music and movie downloads, including Joost, Babelgum, Miro, and the BBC iPlayer. And plenty of filmmakers and musicians including Trent Reznor and have decided to release free copies of their works over BitTorrent.

Since this site is a wiki, anyone can login and edit the list. So if you're aware of individuals or groups that are using P2P software in innovative ways, you can add to the list.

[via Boing Boing]

Wiki lists legal uses of P2P software originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentp2ppeer-to-peerSun, 08 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CloudFire Invites Part Deux]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/06/cloudfire-invites-part-deux/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

CloudFireSo in our last post about the P2P media sharing site CloudFire, y'all jumped in and answered our question about BitTorrent's Bram Cohen.

This time around, there are no questions to answer. It's first come, first serve.

We have 100 invites to the first lucky folks who use "downloadsquad" without quotes naturally to sign up here.

We've had a bit of a play with CloudFire and the things that jump right out to us is that it seriously is easy to share media files with people who might not be as geeky as a lot of us are. And you know what, us geeky people like easy things too, that's why a lot of us use Macs.

There are some random issues as expected, and you have to make sure that the person connecting to your media has the most updated version of Flash, but other than that it works nicely. A good amount of bandwidth on your end doesn't hurt either.

They're completely open to your feedback and have been asking us what we think.

It's still very pre-beta and stealthy so here's your chance to join in!

UPDATE: If the code doesn't work then you might not have gotten in on the 100 invites. If we get more, we'll pass along the word!

CloudFire Invites Part Deux originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bittorrentcloudfiremediamusicp2pphotosvideoFri, 06 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CloudFire - Stealth P2P service, reveals itself to us...and maybe you!]]>http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/03/cloudfire-stealth-p2p-service-reveals-itself-to-us-and-mayb/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/03/cloudfire-stealth-p2p-service-reveals-itself-to-us-and-mayb/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/06/03/cloudfire-stealth-p2p-service-reveals-itself-to-us-and-mayb/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

CloudFireA while back we wrote about a new super sekret stealth P2P file sharing for the masses service called CloudFire.

Just to refresh your memories, CloudFire aims to let you share photos, movies, music, from your desktop right to the web. And not just to the web, but in a very lovely and seamless way based on the screens we've seen. They really want to make P2P mainstream. This is quite a hurdle to jump.

Their "manifesto" states that media shouldn't be a chore. It should be easy to create and share everything that you make to show other people. They want to make the act of uploading media files to outside servers extinct.

Rock on!

But when will we get to see it and play around for ourselves?

Now's the time. We were able to sleuth some invites to their private beta. Ok, they emailed them to us.

Just for you guys, the DLS faithful.

"But what do we have to do to get such an invite" you ask?

Well it's quite simple. Be one of the first 5 people to correctly answer the following question and you get the invite.

Who wrote a parody of a manifesto in 2001 that also has their hand in P2P?

UPDATE: Wow, that was fast. All 5 invites gone. Correct answer? Bram Cohen, creator of BitTorrent! We'll let you know if we get some more invites.


CloudFire - Stealth P2P service, reveals itself to us...and maybe you! originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>cloudfireinvitesp2pTue, 03 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST