TorrentFreak has the whole story and some interesting figures on the market share of the now-defunct P2P system. The figures are from 2008, but show a massive market share of 37%, followed by uTorrent with 14%. This has likely changed a bit over the course of two years, with torrents become more popular.

Some users report that the LimeWire client installed on their system now refuses to update. Others report that the client itself is still working as intended and showing results for searches, which makes sense considering that it operates on the Gnutella network which has not been affected by the ruling. And while the P2P software is not available on the developer’s homepage, it is still available on third party download portals.

LimeWire users who are looking for an alternative may want to take a look at the Open Source client FrostWire which offers a similar functionality. Check out Alternative.to for more LimeWire replacements.

As LimeWire is open-source, several forks of it exist. One of these forks is called FrostWire, a client which appears and works in a similar fashion but removes many limitations of the free version of LimeWire. FrostWire also has some features which LimeWire Pro lacks, such as BitTorrent support.

Unlike LimeWire Pro, FrostWire is completely free to use and download. FrostWire is based on LimeWire’s Java engine and as such, it works on OS X, Linux and Windows, providing Java 1.5 or above is installed.

FrostWire can identify files tagged as Creative Commons in searches, much like LimeWire does, it can filter out junk results like LimeWire, supports proxies, works well with iTunes and there’s no viruses or spyware with it. A more in-depth review is on my weblog, Webby’s World.

FrostWire is an easy way to save $35 if you really wanted to buy LimeWire Pro. It is also a way to ensure people do not profit from tools which mainly facilitate piracy!

Logistep uses a software called File Sharing Monitor that targets E-Donkey and Gnutella users. Here is how it works:

• The software connects to a p2p server and requests a filename recording all IP addresses that offer that name
• They request to download the file and if the download is permitted record the following information into a database
• Filename, file size, IP of the distributor, P2P protocol, P2P application, the time and the username
• When this is inserted the application does a automatic whois and is able to send an infringement letter to the ISP

I think it is interesting to note that this is almost an automatic process which leads to some questions. How do they know which archive has the correct size and is actually their product and not a broken archive ? Is not it only possible to know the exact file size if they downloaded it at least once to verify that is is indeed their product ?

Let us assume that they are not stupid and that they filter out every file below a certain size to prevent that users who do share mods or patches get sued. Let us further assume that a file that is labeled a certain way (with group tags) and shared among many users is the right program. Does this mean that the user that they are suing is responsible ? They will always sue the account holder which could or could not be the person who shared the files.

What possible solutions can I think of that make the Logistep file monitor useless ? Please note that this is hypothetic, I’m not advising anyone to actually use the methods listed below.

• don’t share files
• share only files with no plausible filename (3dpd)
• use encryption to share the files
• use vpns like Relakks
  to share them
• switch to Usenet
• buy the game ;)

Can you think of anything else left to say ?