General Sites

From Shill Bidders to fake Feedback Ratings, fraudulent listings and hijacked accounts, eBay has always been a haven for scammers. So maybe that’s why we’re not surprised to see prominent BitTorrent trackers up for bid there.

Yes, folks - for only $0.99 USD you can bid on an invite to What.cd, STMusic.org and even Torrent-Damage. And shipping is included! Got a little more to part with? Why not scoop up TL for $25?

We personally like this What.cd seller’s ‘disclaimer’ to eBay, to justify his actions:

"Note to ebay: I hold an account on this website and possess this invite, this is my PERSONALLY owned invitation that I may choose to use either way I please I donated to what.cd to obtain this invitation so i hold all grounds to do what ever i wish this is in accordance with this the listing should not be removed. Thank you for your understanding."

We Call Bullshit: If What.cd finds out who you are, you and your entire invite tree will be disabled permanently

P2P Programs that don’t connect (and other things to avoid)

In our unabated drive to find P2P networks that people are using to share files (old and new, big or small), we’ve searched high and low for every and all networks that people could possibly be using to swap files. Many of our sources for these P2P programs, and the working ones, came from the SourceForge website. We conducted searches for “file sharing” and “P2P” software - and shoveled through the massive list of 620 different results. From these results we tossed out all the ’source code only’ queries (we’re not about to start compiling code, and likely neither are you - so we only tested things that contained an executable *.EXE file) although we did test some *.JAR/class files under Java.

It should be noted that these aren’t bad P2P programs - they simply don’t connect to a viable network or people using them (as is). We tried our best to get these apps to connect through various tweaked settings and system requirements, but to no avail. We even resorted to search engines to try and find users/forums that lay out special instructions, database files of users, or IP network addresses to import. Perhaps we’re wrong about some of them - there’s a chance they’ve turned into elusive darknets that we couldn’t circumvent. However you slice it, these are time-wasters for most general filesharers! (most links are included if you want to have a go for yourself).

Getting media files for your iPod

Technically there are only three (online) ways to get media for your iPod or MP3 player. ‘Media’ being music, movies, tv shows, videos, audiobooks or any other files in support of an iPod.

— First, you could purchase it (legally) from iTunes, walmart.com, emusic.com or any other popular online music store. Prices generally range from 79 and 99 cents per song and $10 - $15 per full album. iTunes alone has sold over 3 billion songs as of August 2007 - obviously a popular choice among iPod users.

— Second, you could simply download it for free (illegally) using any P2P program such as Limewire, BitTorrent or any other free file sharing program. Then just import the MP3s, AVIs and whatnot into your iTunes application and transfer to your iPod. Without question, an even more popular choice!

— Third, you can pay a one-time or monthly/yearly fee to download it (illegally, still) from any number of websites that offer this service. All downloading is still done through a “free” P2P program and has nothing to do with the website, with the price attached firmly to the service or support. We don’t know how popular this is, but we’d like to stomp it out anyways!

It’s this third option that we want to go into some detail about:

Avoid These Fee-based P2P clients/services. (Re-branding)

On the P2P scene, re-branding is regarded as a scam when certain stealth operating companies have cloned an ‘open source‘ brand and use advertisements that generally consist of deceptive search engine ads and inexpensive ‘google adsense’-style ads. In hopes of making money, they charge for “support” that is often just a copy of the wiki or other documentation from the original program’s website - all under the pretext of providing customer service. Combine all this with a slightly-modified GUI and *presto* - a new monetizing program is born - one that was completely free in the first place.

Here’s some common examples of re-branding:

P2P programs that contain adware/spyware. (and worse)

This is a list of some of the P2P programs that contain adware - and there are others - especially newer P2P programs with flashy names. Note that some of these P2P applications contain adware/spyware that cannot be de-selected during the installation (i.e. ‘opted out of’) and some can be. Both types are categorized in this list. Read the description of each for more information.

We include the version of the infracting software, but don’t assume all other versions of the same software are safe. Usually when a company decides to place adware/spyware in software - they’ll do it for all versions. It is the program itself that should be avoided, not a specific version of it.

The methods used to install the adware/spyware vary from one program to the next. Some are quite obvious by showing a splash screen of the adware, and with some it’s just a tiny ‘checkmark’ box during the installation. Although we don’t recommend any program listed on this page at all, pay special attention if you do decide to install any of these P2P programs.

Filesharefreak sacrificed one of our secondary computers for these tests. And with good reason: we did irreparable damage to WinXP by installing these and had to uninstall both our antivirus and antispyware programs plus do two different system restore points. To conclude, there is much more at stake than just trivial adware/spyware annoyances.

Some contain crazy spyware; some you just can’t connect to anymore; and some just want your money. Either way, steer clear.

— Adware/spyware-laden P2P clients
— Pay-to-use P2P services/programs
— The iPod $ Music Scam
— P2P programs that don’t connect
— Other things to avoid

Below is a list of some outstandingly BAD P2P clients, as tested in Dec. 2007 - each with a summary. They could have fit into ALL of the categories above.

A list of file sharing sites you should avoid - and why.

Undoubtedly, whenever something becomes popular - even hip - unsavory entities will always smell money and seek ways to capitalize on the hapless misfortune of others. We cannot find a clearer example of this than to look at P2P file sharing - it abounds in misdirection, half-truths and flim-flams. It’s the quintessential poster child for scam artists everywhere. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Never open your wallet for P2P programs, software or services.