Firm behind eDonkey to pay $30 million to avoid piracy claims
ALEX VEIGA
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - The firm behind popular online file-sharing software eDonkey has agreed to pay $30 million to avoid potential copyright infringement lawsuits from the recording industry, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

New York-based MetaMachine Inc. was one of seven technology firms to receive letters from the recording industry last fall warning them to shut down or prepare to face lawsuits.

Since then, the operators of BearShare, i2Hub, WinMX, Grokster and Kazaa have reached similar agreements.

"With this new settlement, another domino falls, and we have further strengthened the footing of the legal marketplace," Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, said in a statement.

Under terms of the latest agreement, MetaMachine and its top executives, Sam Yagan and Jed McCaleb, agreed to immediately cease distributing eDonkey, eDonkey 2000, Overnet and other software versions.

The company also agreed to take measures to prevent file-sharing by people using previously downloaded versions of the eDonkey software.

A federal judge in New York, where the settlement agreement was filed, must still give final approval to the terms of the deal.

A call to eDonkey CEO Sam Yagan was not immediately returned.

The eDonkey Web site on Tuesday featured a message from the company telling visitors that the eDonkey2000 Network was no longer available, and a warning that people who steal music or movies are breaking the law.

The message concluded with "Goodbye Everyone."

EDonkey has been the most popular file-sharing network the last two years, but most of the computer users tapping into the hub of linked PCs have increasingly done so using an open-source version of the eDonkey software dubbed eMule, said Eric Garland, chief executive at BigChampagne Online Media Measurement, which tracks online entertainment.

Because many computer users still have functional versions of eDonkey or eMule, it's unlikely the shutdown of eDonkey's business operations will have much of an impact on people file-swapping on the eDonkey network, Garland said.

"These (peer-to-peer) networks have largely moved out of the hands of these companies and into the hands of developers and end users all over the world," Garland said. "A week from now, a month from now, six months from now - we're still going to see eDonkey populations."

Several file-sharing services have yet to reach settlements with the recording industry, including Warez P2P, Limewire and Soulseek.

In August, the recording companies filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the firm behind LimeWire. That case is pending.

ON THE NET

eDonkey: http://www.edonkey.com/

Too long.

This thread sucks.

This kinda sucks.....not so much because of the music, but more for the tv-series I have been following, i.e. Lost, Deadwood, Sopranos..... These series do air here as well, but overhere we're just so far behind (i.e. we're still waiting for series 5 of the Sopranos to start!!!!!), I was getting used to downloading the episodes after they aired in the US..... eDonkey was also very user-friendly and easy!

This sucks, I'll have to find a new program.....

luv4all7 said:

abierman said:

Keep your chin up!



[Edited 9/12/06 15:28pm]

abierman said:

Shareaaza allows you to download in a few differing ways - including eMule P2P and BitTorrents...

Justin1972UK said:

Thanks, I'll take a look at it!
I tend to stay away from BitTorrents, I'm just too stupid for that and I know nobody to show me how.....eDonkey was maybe not the fastest but it was straightforward, good enough for me.....I will have to look around!

luv4all7 said:

why did you edit???

abierman said:

My version is one the ones still functioning. That's good, because I find some of the most off the wall shit on here. I admit though BitTorrents are a hell of a lot faster.

Not sure how thesse are going to keep on going. I opened up edonkey yesterday and it didn't work as the network was shut. Perhaps if you had some friends on there or something...but I don't think so. Edonkey is pretty dead.

AnckSuNamun said:

really????? why the hell isn't mine working anymore then???? What did I do wrong????

abierman said:

Ummm... It's easy-peasy.

01. Download and install Shareaaza or BitComet - BitComet is easier but only handles torrents, not eMule files or any kind of P2P sharing.

02. Bookmark something like http://www.scrapetorrent.com which searches the big four trackers - not that I'm going to name the actual tracker sites...

03. Open a "Download Now" link and BitComet will automatically open.

Justin1972UK said:

thanks, I'll try that!

abierman said:

I didn't like the other one. It made me look like a great person.
[Edited 9/12/06 16:09pm]

luv4all7 said:

I thought it was cute!

abierman said:

i got emule...hopefully that ain't next.

Wow, ain't that a bitch! I use Limewire a lot, it rocks!! Hopefully that won't be next either.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Actually, emule still use the edonkey network.

psychodelicide said:

Already too late! The RIAA knows that Limewire is the current #1 P2P in America.

TonyVanDam said:

Yuuup, and I would not be surprised if that's the next one to go.

Are eDonkey and eMule the same? I used eMule once and it had tons of stuff on it, but everything took ages to download. Plus, I buy everything through itunes now.

You would be amazed at how much stuff is being posted to Rapidshare these days. Just do a search for an album title on Google in the following format...

"album title or artist name enclosed in quotes" rapidshare.de

Chances are, there's a link to it on someone's site or blog.

There's a TON of media and software available through torrents nowdays. Getting your torrent client configured properly is a bit tricky though. If you don't do it right your download speeds will be lousy.

Torrents aren't immune to legal action either:

Justice Department Announces Guilty Plea in Peer-to-Peer Piracy Crackdown
Contact: US Department of Justice, 202-514-2008, TDD 202-514-1888

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /Standard Newswire/ -- An Erie, Pa. man pleaded guilty to copyright infringement in U.S. District Court in Erie, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of the Western District of Pennsylvania announced today.

Scott R. McCausland, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and one count of criminal copyright infringement in violation of the Family Entertainment Copyright Act. His guilty plea stems from his involvement in the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) network previously known as Elite Torrents. The plea was entered before U.S. District Court Judge Sean J. McLaughlin for the Western District of Pennsylvania. McCausland, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec.12, 2006, faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.

"This groundbreaking case demonstrates the commitment of the Department of Justice to prosecute individuals who use new technologies to undermine the copyright laws," said U.S. Attorney Buchanan. "It also serves as an example to those who believe that there is anonymity in cyberspace."

This is the first criminal enforcement action against copyright infringement on a P2P network using BitTorrent technology. McCausland's conviction is the third in a series of convictions arising from Operation D-Elite, a federal crackdown against the first providers (or suppliers) of pirated works to the technologically-sophisticated P2P network known as Elite Torrents. At its prime, the Elite Torrents network attracted more than 133,000 members and facilitated the illegal distribution of more than 2 million copies of movies, software, music, and games. On May 25, 2005, federal agents shut down the Elite Torrents network by seizing its main server and replacing its log-in web page with the following notice: "This Site Has Been Permanently Shut Down by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)." Within the first week alone, this message was viewed over half a million times.

The Elite Torrents P2P network offered a virtually unlimited content selection, including illegal copies of copyrighted works before their availability in retail stores or movie theatres. For example, the defendant supplied the network with the final entry in the Star Wars series, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," more than six hours before it was first shown in theatres. In the next 24 hours, it was downloaded from the Elite Torrents network more than 10,000 times.

Operation D-Elite is a joint investigation by ICE and the FBI as part of the Computer and Technology Crime High-Tech Response Team (CATCH), a San Diego task force of specially trained prosecutors and law enforcement officers focused on high-tech crime. Federal and state member agencies of CATCH include ICE, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the San Diego District Attorney's Office, San Diego Police Department, the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and San Diego County Probation.

Andrea Sharrin, Senior Counsel for the Criminal Division's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Christian A. Trabold, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, prosecuted this case on behalf of the government. The Motion Picture Association of America also provided substantial assistance to this investigation.

http://www.standardnewswi...86655.html

They also went after Pirate Bay and Torrentspy and lost.

The nice thing about torrent sites is they really help weed out bogus files, because people can write reviews and comments for each torrent. If there's complaints about a particular torrent, they'll generally remove it from their search results all together.

abierman said:

I agree with you, Aksel. That's how I had to get my Doctor Who fix instead of waiting for the episodes to air on SciFi a year later where they butcher the shows to make room for more commercials.

Although I didn't use that program.

DC++

Dewrede said:

and Soulseek too.

abierman said:

I didnt like bit comet,

I recommend u torrent. it does everything for you. click okay and thats it

FruitToAttractBears said:

used to like Kazaa too , but i can't find one that works