May 26, 2005

Federal agents raided the operators of Elite Torrents, a popular BitTorrent peer-to-peer tracker for pirated software, music, and movies. In addition to shutting down the functionality of the site, the agents modified the front page to serve as a warning to others. The raids were prompted by Elite Torrents' illegal distribution of the "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" movie.

April 26, 2005

Two former Netscape executives have launched the Open Media Network, a non-profit P2P media distribution startup. Combining the functionality of TiVo with peer-to-peer distribution, the service lets media publishers distribute their content inexpensively. The network uses commercial P2P technology from Kontiki. Open Media Network is initially focusing on delivering public domain content, indie films, podcasts and videoblogs. Later versions will support digital rights management and micropayments so that publishers can get paid for their content.

March 28, 2005

On Tuesday, the highest court in the land will begin hearing arguments in the case of MGM Studios v. Grokster. This important case pits all the major movie studios and record labels against Grokster and StreamCast Networks, two operators of P2P file-sharing services. The court decision will certainly affect how people use entertainment content and share information on the Internet.

March 27, 2005

Mark Cuban, the dot-com billionaire who founded and sold Broadcast.com, has said that he will pay for Grokster's legal defense in the peer-to-peer lawsuit brought by MGM. This very important case will be argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.

March 24, 2005

After using a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program for downloading music, a man has discovered that his tax return is circulating on the Internet. Investigators performing a simple search also found hundreds of other tax returns being unwittingly shared on P2P networks.

March 24, 2005

Sick and tired of being rejected by MTV and VH1, many bands are turning to BitTorrent to distribute their music videos.

March 16, 2005

Anti-spyware crusader Ben Edelman has posted a lengthy report detailing which P2P programs install which spyware/adware. The big offenders seem to be eDonkey, iMesh, Kazaa, LimeWire, and Morpheus. The best P2P applications, eMule and BitTorrent, don't have any spyware or adware.

March 15, 2005

BitTorrent, more than any other P2P technology is being adopted by legitimate companies as a way to vastly improve the large file distribution process.

March 8, 2005

Version 4.0.0 of the BitTorrent free peer-to-peer software has been released. New features include an improved queue-based user interface, many modifiable settings, enhanced statistics, and better performance.

March 2, 2005

On March 29th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case of MGM vs. Grokster. A number of industry trade groups, consumer advocates and lawyers have filed briefs in support of peer-to-peer networks and software vendors. Any decision by the Supreme Court on this issue will have immense impact on software vendors, the movie and music studios, ISPs and consumers.

February 11, 2005

A U.S. District Court judge in Texas has ordered the shutdown of the LokiTorrent P2P site and has ordered the operators to turn over the server logs to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).

January 14, 2005

File traders who seed peer-to-peer networks with copyrighted material can be identified and traced, according to BayTSP, a peer-to-peer monitoring company.