eXeem Public Beta

The long awaited peer to peer search tool eXeem is now in public beta. With all the lawsuits and copyright holders going after p2p networks, users and even developers , I do not know if this was a good move on the now defunct Suprnova site.

The Grokster vs. MGM is scheduled for opening statements March 29th, and will determine the future of p2p. The crux of the Grokster defense represented by EFF said,

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“The lower court rulings were based on the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the 1984 Sony Betamax case, which determined that Sony was not liable for copyright violations by users of the Betamax VCR,” says the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) which is representing Morpheus owner StreamCast Networks.

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The ruling for the 1984 can be found here.

It will boil down to if developers of p2p software should be held liable for other peoples' actions. In California, there is a bill to make it a crime to develop software that does not contain proper copyright filters . The proposal can be found here.

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The bill comes as much of the technology world is waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the legal status of file-swapping technology.

Federal courts have twice ruled that peer-to-peer software companies are not legally responsible for the illegal actions of people using their products. Hollywood studios and record companies appealed those decisions to the nation's top court, which is expected to rule on the issue this summer.

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Kind of redundant when there is going to be a runing around July, but if you are a copyright holder and losing money, any stopgap in the p2p frenzy would be good. However, there is a problem in all of the maddness:

Once it starts, it is very difficult to stop, and if the courts rule in Grokster's favor, that means copyright holders will have a VERY difficult time tracking individual users distributing illegal files, but that's the way it should be because not everybody on a p2p network is sharing illegal files just like not everybody is selling bootleg betamax tapes from the boot of a car. The question is, will the minority be the champion for the majority?

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To Whom It May Concern:
>
> This letter is being written to you on behalf of our
> client, DreamWorks SKG (hereinafter ^ÓDreamWorks^Ô).
> DreamWorks is the exclusive owner of all copyright,
> trademark and other intellectual property rights in
> and to the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô motion picture. No one is
> authorized to copy, reproduce, distribute, or
> otherwise use the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô motion picture without
> the express written permission of DreamWorks.
[...]
> As you may be aware, Internet Service Providers can
> be held liable if they do not respond to claims of
> infringement pursuant to the requirements of the
> Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In
> accordance with the DMCA, we request your assistance
> in the removal of infringements of the ^ÓShrek 2^Ô
> motion picture from this web site and any other sites
> for which you act as an Internet Service Provider.
> We further declare under penalty of perjury that we
> are authorized to act on behalf of DreamWorks and
> that the information in this letter is accurate.
> Please contact me immediately to discuss this matter
> further.

As you may or may not be aware, Sweden is not a state in the United States
of America. Sweden is a country in northern Europe.
Unless you figured it out by now, US law does not apply here.
For your information, no Swedish law is being violated.

Please be assured that any further contact with us, regardless of medium,
will result in
a) a suit being filed for harassment
b) a formal complaint lodged with the bar of your legal counsel, for
sending frivolous legal threats.

It is the opinion of us and our lawyers that you are ****ing morons, and
that you should please go sodomize yourself with retractable batons.

Please also note that your e-mail and letter will be published in full on
http://www.thepiratebay.org.

Go **** yourself.

Polite as usual,
anakata

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Go figure
From here: http://www.thepiratebay.com/frame.html

lol, but you forget, the US wants the rest of the world to be just like them. That controversy aside and on the topic, I find it ironic that if somebody were to download something out of the country with different laws, the Supreme Court ruling does not mean anything. I do not know how it will all turn out.

WARNING: Do not install Exeem unless you like Spyware! I made this mistake earlier today and now have a CoolWWWSearch infection that doesn't show up in Ad-Aware SE, doesn't show up with Spybot (latest defs on both), doesn't show up on CWShredder. If you must have Exeem, use Exeem Lite.

- Xierox

EDIT: I stand corrected. While eXeem does not apparently contain CoolWWWSearch, it does contain the Spyware named Cydoor. See my post two posts down for more details and Lavasoft's summary of Cydoor.

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eXeem™ is a brand new Peer-To-Peer program, which is based on the BitTorrent idea. eXeem™ eliminates the need for trackers as nodes in the program will be taking their role. eXeem™ also features easy publication of files to the network as well as a rating and comments system. eXeem™ contains NO SPYWARE. eXeem™ is free and is ad-supported. eXeem™ is currently still in its beta testing phase, which means that the network might not be completely stable yet. You are still very welcome to give eXeem™ a try and see how it is different from other Peer-To-Peer programs.

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Wow, what liers, maybe someone should send them a complaint...

From Exeem's Privacy Page - http://www.exeem.com/privacy.htm

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The ads appearing on the Exeem.com Web site and within eXeem™ application are delivered by our web advertising partner, Cydoor. Information about users of eXeem™ and Exeem.com, such as the number of times they have viewed an ad (but not user name, address, or other personal information), is used to serve ads to users. If you would like more information about Cydoor, please visit: http://www.cydoor.com/Cydoor/Company/CompanyPrivacy.htm

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From Lavasoft's Threat Assessment Chart - http://www.lavasoftnews.com/ms/displ...php?tac=Cydoor

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TAC Level: 7
Distribution: 2
Bundled with other applications which make it difficult to determine its installation is part of the EULA terms (if presented in the EULA at all)
Bundled installation which is undisclosed
Behavior: 3
Opens unsolicited popups
Installs other items without informing

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Spybot did indeed find Cydoor (or at least remnants) after uninstalling Exeem. As to the CoolWWWSearch I found on my system, perhaps I was too hasty in saying it came from Exeem. However, Lavasoft does say that Cydoor "Installs other items without informing" so then again, maybe Exeem was the culprit. All I know is that I won't be installing it on my computer again!

- Xierox

I don't believe eXeem was your culprit bud... I have talked to tons of people who just installed the beta and most have said they found cydoor and nothing else... They knew they were going to get it and just took it off after they installed. eXeem is a lot like bearshare in that they ads are easy to get rid of and even easier to avoid, because eXeem doesn't care about you seeing them, as they are paid per download of the software rather than per view or perclick. (this only pertains when speaking of apps that are installed)

Well, maybe you're right. Maybe I just jumped to conclusions because it seemed really weird to find CoolWWWSearch on my computer the same day I installed eXeem. My apologies.

- Xierox