The virus, MSH/Cibyz, which is based on Windows PowerShell, was released by members of the RRLF virus group, according to an advisory from McAfee.

PowerShell is a command line shell and scripting language that runs on Microsoft XP, Windows Server 2003, Vista and Longhorn operating systems.

The malware is a low risk to home and corporate users, according to a McAfee advisory. However, it can create a copy of itself in the Windows system directory and then modifies registry keys so users cannot view hidden files and extensions.

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The peer-to-peer network has also agreed to pay $100m (£53m) in damages to the record industry.

The announcement follows the release of a music industry report that says more than 20 billion music tracks have been downloaded illegally in the last year.

File sharing and music piracy are key factors in the recent decline in record sales, according to the music business.

“We have won another battle in an ongoing war,” said John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries (IFPI). “We move forward with a spring in our step.”

Kazaa follows other sites like Napster which now offers legal downloads.

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They say “one” is the loneliest number. Luckily for Sharman Networks, the FastTrack network has nearly 2 million individuals online at any given moment. Slowly, FastTrack’s numbers continue to slide as internal and external forces chip away at the once mighty Kazaa.

At its peak in the summer of 2003, FastTrack was a bustling network of over 4.5 million users. The official Kazaa client produced by Sharman Networks was still disliked by many file-sharers, but this wasn’t a terrible concern. Alternatives such as Kazaa Lite, which greatly enhanced the original product and eliminated third party software, faded any ill-memories of the official Kazaa Media Desktop.

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More than 50 law enforcement officials raided 10 locations, confiscating the computers and detaining three people.

ThePirateBay.org had described itself to be the largest search index for BitTorrent, a system used for sharing large files across the internet.

The entertainment industry welcomed the action against a site it argued was a major source of music and film piracy.

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The most common problem with Limewire is Limewire not connecting to the Limewire network. For those who are having trouble connection to the Gnutella network using LimeWire, we have a potential fix in our forum! Download Limewire here

LimeWire is a free and open source peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Gnutella network. It is released under the GNU General Public License. The program allows users to share files using the Gnutella peer-to-peer protocol. It was the first file sharing program to support firewall-to-firewall file transfers, a feature introduced in version 4.2, which was released in November 2004.

LimeWire is written in Java and therefore runs on any computer with the Java virtual machine installed. To facilitate installation for casual users, the developers release installation packages for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and for Linux, in RPM format. Classic Mac OS (Mac OS 9 and before) support has been dropped with LimeWire 4.0.10.

LimeWire uses the SHA-1 and Tiger tree hash cryptographically secure hash functions to ensure that downloaded data is uncompromised. Although researchers have identified possible vulnerabilities in the SHA1 algorithm, because LimeWire does not rely on SHA1 alone, these vulnerabilities do not have many adverse implications for LimeWire’s verification of downloaded files.

The Windows version of LimeWire installer includes a stripped-down version of Sun’s Java installer which will download and install version 1.5 of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) if it detects the machine doesn’t have Java, or has a version of Java below version 1.4.1.

Lime Wire LLC, the developer of LimeWire, distributes two versions of the program; a basic, free version, and an enhanced version sold for a small fee, which the developers claim [1] offers faster downloads. Prior to April 2004, the free version of LimeWire was distributed with a bundled program called “LimeShop” (a variant of TopMoxie), which was considered by computer security experts to be spyware. Among other things, LimeShop monitored online purchases in order to redirect sales commissions to LimeWire LLC. Uninstallation of LimeWire would not remove LimeShop. With the removal of all bundled software in LimeWire 4.0 (released May 14, 2004), these objections were addressed.

Being open source, LimeWire has spawned several forks, including LionShare, an experimental software development project at Penn State University, FrostWire, and Acquisition, a popular Macintosh-based Gnutella client with a proprietary interface. Researchers at Cornell University developed a reputation management add-in called Credence that allows users to distinguish between “genuine” and “suspect” files before downloading them.

According to a 28 June 2005 report in The New York Times, LimeWire LLC may stop distributing LimeWire due to the outcome of MGM v. Grokster. However, new versions are being released (4.10 released on March 18) with smarter search results, optimized downloads and other features. On September 25, it was reported that Lime Wire LLC was working on a version of the program which will refuse to share files that lack valid license information.

An October 12, 2005 report states that some of the LimeWire open source contributors have forked the project and called it FrostWire. The FrostWire project has a beta release, which is claimed to be equivalent in power to the nonfree version of Limewire. The FrostWire developers emphasize that they will never place any sharing-related restrictions on the client.

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Download Limewire here

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A man who duped customers into believing they could download copyrighted MP3 files without violating the law has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that his claims were false.

Cashier Myricks, Jr., operator of mp3downloadcity.com, agreed to pay $15,240 to the 611 customers who signed up to use the service to exchange music, movie and game files.

The FTC said in a statement that Myricks is also barred from misrepresentations about P2P (define) file-sharing products or services and must explain the civil and criminal liability risks of downloading copyrighted material without the owner’s permission.

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Red Hot Chilli Peppers launched an anti-P2P tirade when their song was leaked on the internets P2P networks. Even though you could find all these songs on Limewire and Kazaa  at the time, fast forward to today!

Today the music news from Hollywood: that new album from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers “topped the US charts for the first time in the band’s 22 year history.”! With unit sales 56% higher than their previous best seller, P2P sent this new CD into the sales stratosphere and without a doubt greatly improved everybody’s circulation. Other musicians should be so lucky to have legions of excited listeners supporting their latest releases by sending promo copies flying around the Internet.

Limewire and Kazza helped them get to where they are and the money that they are raking in as it was free promo, believe it or not!

Support a worthy course! This is from P2P net:

I’ve been doing my level best to keep this low key and between myself and Sharman Networks because I truly believe this is a 100%, solid gold, carved in rock freedom of speech issue, about people being able to say what they think and express what they believe online (or anywhere else) without fear. So Yes, I’m an evangelist. And Yes, I’m on a mission. Yes, I want to keep p2pnet online, and of course, I also want to keep my family safe because this has the potential to seriously affect us to a far greater extent than it’s done already, and no mistake.

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Just when you thought you’d seen everything P2P is useful for. A recently discovered Internet worm, “Nugache-A” is spreading widely via AIM as ell as MSN Messenger.

In and of themselves, new internet worms pop up too frequently to be news anymore. What is significant about this worm is the way in which it can be remotely controlled, via P2P.

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Peer-to-peer programs like LimeWire and Kazaa found themselves in the federal spotlight as music companies filed suits against hundreds of people - including a woman at Sheppard Air Force Base - alleging they downloaded and distributed music illegally.Peer-to-peer programs allow users to share music and other media files, and the recording companies and artists don’t get paid for those exchanges.

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In a four hour hearing in Sydney on Friday, Sharman CEO Nikki Hemming revealed that she has been steadily selling off her assets and transferring cash to the tax haven of Vanuatu.In an apparent attempt to frustrate the recording industries bid to recover millions of dollars in damages, Ms Hemming appears to have been hastily selling off those assets that she would otherwise stand to lose.

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Kazaa Lite is a clean version of Kazaa Media Desktop. It contains absolutely no spyware, adware or other unwanted software. The new K++ Edition even adds some cool extra functionality to the program.

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