The record industry is not only bugging Napster anymore. Also other leading alternatives have begun blocking copyrighted files.
Late this week, members of the Israel-based iMesh service--the largest pure file-swapping service left outside of Napster--saw a new note as they logged on, telling them they'd soon have access to considerably less music. |
"Following (the) RIAA's request, iMesh is currently in the process of disabling the downloads of files protected by the copyright law," the note read. "Those files will appear in the search results list with a © sign, and their download will not be possible."
Because iMesh is based in israel they thought they were hard to get. Guess not. Almost 7 million people have downloaded the iMesh software, with 332,000 of these last week.
How are the other programs going?
Napster has now blocked 311,000 songs, and changed its terms of service not to evade the filters. Gnutella is not yet seen as a threat. They probably can't do anything about it because it has no central server. Also Aimster (a program that allows you to trade files only with a group of people listed in your instant messaging "buddy lists") says it hasn't been contacted by the RIAA yet.
Source: CNet
