WinMX Suspends Operations

An anonymous reader writes "Slyck.com is reporting that it appears the WinMX network has shut down its operations in response to the RIAA's letters threating legal action. Although the WinMX network is currently down, this may only be temporary as developers seem to have relocated from Canada to Port Villa, Vanuatu."

Reminiscence

[gunpowda]

I remember using WinMX before discovering Kazaa. It was functional, but its one (major) defect was its hideous interface [netzwelt.de].

Survival of the fittest, I guess!

Does anyone consider WinMX safe anyway?

[saskboy]

It's not an encrypted P2P network, the downloader is known to the source, and I thought spyware was associated with it. If anyone wants to vouch for WinMX as being spyware free please do, but I've seen it only on two systems, both infected with spyware.

ScuttleMonkey == Michael?

[daniil]

Seriously, that's the third YRO story in a row. It's as if someone had let Michael back online and now he's sitting there, manically posting YRO stories (and laughing his hideous laughter).

You have to catch them first.

[Anonymous Coward]

If they obfuscate their identity, and if the foreign country won't cooperate, then good luck prosecuting them.

Re:Pertinent Links:

[freaktheclown]

Indeed: [vanuatugovernment.gov.vu] Recent political developments in Vanuatu. Vanuatu has a new Government. Please revisit this site next week.

Re:Are they planning to live there too?

[sobachatina]

Is anyone sued for downloading pirated material?

I was under the impression that the people that were technically breaking the law and being sued were those distributing pirated material.

Of course its probably a moot point considering most P2P programs are designed to do both.

Its Still Legal in Canada

[kwandar]

Its strange that the RIAA would bother sending a letter to a Canadian company.

Music is quite legal (until the government changes the law) to download in Canada. It is most likely legal to have it available for download too, provided that you are not "distributing", which seems to require active promotion.

I would think software developers would be one step further removed from that. Good luck to the RIAA pressing their case in Canada under the current law. CRIA was already stupid enough to take it to the Federal Court http://www.cippic.ca/en/projects-cases/file-sharin g-lawsuits/ [cippic.ca] and lose.

Just how might they do that?

[Anonymous Coward]

If the US of A completely cut off all its trade with Vanauatu, they wouldn't notice. We don't buy much from them, we don't sell much to them. It would be hard to hurt them in any meaningful way if they decided that the money they were making was more than they would otherwise make.

Australia and NZ, on the other hand, are in a position to be really annoying to Vanauatu.

ps. They don't have static electricity there (way to humid). The natives have never experienced it. When they leave the island and do experience it, they often jump to interesting conclusions like: "Oh my gawd, the electrical system is giving me shocks. This hotel is going to burn down."

Re:You have to catch them first.

[Vr6dub]

Who modded this insightful? Flaimbait is probably closer to the mark. I don't particularly care for the guy myself but that's just silly. I believe the parent was only half serious but the mod needs to take his/her tinfoil hat off.

If I remember correctly...

[DaveJay]

If I remember correctly, WinMX was merely a Windows client developed to operate using the same protocol as BeShare on BeOS.

At the time, BeOS popularity was waning, and as web sites supporting it started shutting down, the BeShare network quickly became -the- place to get freeware and shareware applications that no longer had download mirrors available, and were unsupported by the original developer.

If memory serves, there was quite a bit of porn on it, too, but not a lot of music -- applications, drivers, config files and BeOS demos were definitely the overwhelming offering.

Of course, once WinMX came out and Windows people started using the network, it became overwhelmed with music trades. Still, for once, you can safely claim that this particular P2P "network" was created not to trade in pirated goods (which was frowned upon in the BeShare days) but in fact as a technical proof-of-concept that was quickly leveraged as a legal software distribution tool, much like BitTorrent is trying to be.

Re:Pertinent Links:

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, I'm living in Port Vila right now, and the Internet connections are quite crappy. There is only one ISP here, the telephone company called Telecom Vanuatu Limited. Everything is connected via satellite, so the latencies in particular are very bad. I know you can get dedicated connections from TVL for a hefty price. I don't have the numbers on me, but by way of comparison I'm currently paying $25 per month for 10 hours of dialup, which reminds me of 1998.

Re:Tax haven? Not for long.....

[sdnoob]

actually, USENET would be the first "P2P" network.. and it is still going strong.