All Entries Tagged With: "peer to peer"
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Leaked Online [Screenshots]
It was only a matter of time before it happened. Microsoft Office 2010 Beta has leaked online via peer to peer networks and we’ve got several screenshots, courtesy of CravingTech.
Unfortunately, you all probably already know that we won’t show you where you can get this (piracy = bad), but if you’re a scumbag, you can probably search Google for it.
Jump past the article break to see more images.
Business Software Alliance: 41% of Software Installed on PCs is Pirated
According to a recent report put out by the Business Software Alliance [BSA], approximately 41% of all software installed on personal computers worldwide has been pirated. This, of course, includes duplication of installation disks, transfer by hard disk drive or thumb drive, and most commonly: peer to peer networks [P2P].
At some point or another, we may or may not have contributed to this — but what’s the damage factor? In other words, how does this impact the economy?
According to the report, “Worldwide, roughly 41 percent of all software installed on personal computers is obtained illegally, with foregone revenues to the software industry totaling $53 billion.”
That’s not pocket change the last time I checked. What’s worse is the fact that people are losing their jobs over this, which in turn causes other people to lose their jobs.
The Business Software Alliance monitors peer to peer sites and issues millions of “take-down” notices every year. How much this is “saving” the industry is little to be known at this point.
Kazaa Surfaces Again, As An Entirely Different Beast
Remember the days of illegal downloading with Kazaa? Of course you don’t, because you’ll never admit you did.
Perhaps one of the most popular outlets for file sharing was Kazaa – until it fell of the face of the Earth amidst copyright violations over seven years ago. The former peer-to-peer service will be re-launching as soon as this week as a legal music distribution service. The service is expected to launch with approximately 1 million tracks, and provide unlimited downloads of songs and ringtones from major record labels for as little as $20 per month.
The question now is: will they make money? Will Kazaa now be a legitimate money-making operation? It’s unknown at this time if users will be flocking to Kazaa, but if they do; record companies will be glad to know they’re getting a slice of the pie.
Kazaa is joining a number of other former peer-to-peer applications, such as Napster, in providing music as a paid service.
[ source: CNET ]
