Napster may be down, but MP3 searches go on Oct 04 '01    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Software Microsoft Windows 7 Professional From $21 Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010 From $84 The Bottom Line You're searching for MP3s from other users' individual computers - NOT from a central server. Napster was the king of MP3-swapping. However, the music industry has brought it down, by making users pay a monthly subscription. You can still get it for free. For now, I'm only talking about peer-to-peer networks. As I write this opinion, I'm using Limewire (www.limewire.com) to download songs. I also recommend BearShare (www.bearshare.com). Both run on Gnutella, or peer-to-peer, networks. Peer-to-peer networks are not a central server, but used by connecting to IP addresses of users with a high-speed connection. You can choose what files you would like to share. Then, someone searches for a song. The places where the song is found come up. A copy of the song is downloaded directly from its source (one computer) to its destination. I like LimeWire because it groups together results if the same result is from multiple computers. I can listen to samples of music, while they're being downloaded. I usually use LimeWire for the modem. I also like BearShare, because it shows the bitrates and lengths of many of the MP3s. I usually use BearShare for when I'm at school (T1 connection). MP3 searching software is controversial, because many don't know if the songs they're getting are legal. Hint: if thwe song is new, it's probably illegal. The peer-to-peer networks will be harder to shut down than Napster. Napster has one central server, which locates where it is. The newer networks are decentralized, meaning it's harder to track.

Write the first comment on this review!

Write an essay on this topic.