Ares Connect

Free music downloads are everywhere, but up until now, the British general public has not been threatened with the same lawsuits and charges that have been flying around in the US. All that might be about to change, after six Britons were arrested on charges of filesharing.

The six got their free music downloads from the now defunct filesharing website OiNK. The music that was downloaded was done so and shared before its official release date.

It’s not clear what the exact offenses were or why the six were released without charge. It’s also not yet known which songs or albums were the subject of these arrests.

All we know if that five men and one woman were arrested at the end of May.

This could be a sign of times to come in the UK, but the details are so sketchy that it’s difficult to draw any conclusions yet.

Filesharing as we know it may have run its course, according to premium filesharing company Rhever. Filesharing is renowned as a source for people to download copyrighted music and movies, allowing users to get their hands on brand new material before it even hits the shops.

Filesharing websites have come under intense pressure from the music and movie industries. After TorrentSpy closed down, many people are now starting to say that the way the current filesharing industry works needs to be drastically changed.

TorrentSpy closed down in March thanks to legal action by the MPAA. Even though new filesharing websites seem to open up on a daily basis, people like the MPAA are determined to bring them all down It will be a lengthy battle but not one they are prepared to give up on. Similarly, the music industry has been suing individuals and going against websites.

So what is the new face of filesharing going to look like?

Anyone with an iPod or an iPhone will be keen to get their hands on free music downloads. There are heaps of places to get illegal free music downloads, as well as a few for legal free music downloads.

So, where can you download free music for your iPod and iPhone without fear of the consequences? Well, one such place is iTunes itself, which provides access to many free promo tracks that are released as parts of various albums.

Also worth checking out for free music downloads is www.itsfreedownloads.com, which has access to lots of free music content.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out www.3hive.com, where you will find songs that are made free because the artists want users to eventually buy the albums. You don’t have to, of course.

Our final website is www.Epitonic.com, a website that offers free MP3 downloads across various genres.

So what are you choice websites for getting free music downloads for you iPhone and iPod?

Ares Lite was the first file sharing app that I ever had the privilege of using. It was simple and quick, it had all the features I needed, and it took up very little of my computer’s resources. Great stuff.

The origin of the name ‘Lite’ caused some confusion with its users who, burned by the many versions of Ares that are floating around bundled with spyware or adware of some kind, thought that the ‘Lite’ moniker referred to it being without nasty malware. While Ares Lite was indeed free of adware it was not the only version of Ares that could claim this ‘feature’. In fact the software was called ‘Lite’ because it was a cut down version of the Ares Galaxy. Simple!

There are of course many versions of the Ares software that are both very capable and free from spyware, shining examples of which are Ares Vista, Ares Ultra, Ares Ultimate and the great Ares Galaxy. Given the increase in power in modern computers it is perhaps time for Ares Lite to step down from its pedestal: the benefits gained by a smaller footprint no longer outweigh the disadvantage of the limited functionality. There are plenty of great choices to replace ares Lite. Go for it!

Ares Ultra is another version of the fantastic Ares P2P filesharing software that allows you to swap music, films and other files with your friends (and indeed with others across the world).

Ares Ultra boasts an easy to use interface which is cleverly customized for ease of use and clarity. I confidently predict that even a newcomer to Ares filesharing software will have no problem at all in picking up this gem of a piece of software and making it sing. You’ll be downloading your favorite music in no time at all.

This simplicity is a double-edged sword, however, and the power-users Ares Ultra might find many of their favorite functions are tucked away out of site and quite simply difficult to find. If you can put up with this, though – or if you won’t use the more technical functions of Ares Ultra – then this is the piece of software for you.

When starting a voyage into the world of file sharing it is important that you don’t get hindered by the tools you are using. Ares Ultra aims to provide an excellent introduction into this wonderful world with a simple to use and intuitive interface. Ares Ultra’s nicely defined interface will also help anyone who wants to share files but does not need frequent access to the other more powerful functions offered by the software.

As a filesharing program Ares Ultra performs admirably and certainly it matches many of the other popular utilities in terms of slick execution and ease of use. When we tried it out there were no problems with connection or download, and the interface handled our load testing admirably. It’s simplicity means it works well on less powerful computers too and an old Dell laptop ran happily for two days downloading files without a problem.

Definitely a recommended piece of software.

Most of you will be familiar with isohunt.com. We are – we’ve used the filesharing website numerous times. Isohunt began as a small project for a guy named Gary Fung. He started the website to let people making files available through BitTorrent. The whole thing was quite new five year ago, but now, isohunt is a huge website and Gary Fung is the subject of a major lawsuit from Hollywood.

BitTorrent is one of the most popular methods of getting music downloads and movie downloads. Fung’s website receives 18 million visitors a month and there are links to more than 25 million files.

The Motion Picture Association of America has launched several lawsuits against Fung. While other filesharing websites have buckled under the pressure of lawsuits, Fung has vowed to take on all who oppose him.

Isohunt doesn’t actually host any of the files people have access to, so it’s difficult to see what the MPAA will achieve.

We’ll have to wait and see.

More news from university websites this week. This time it’s the University of Utah. The RIAA has, apparently, threatened to file lawsuits against 12 individuals suspected of making copyrighted material available for filesharing.

It’s unclear whether those 12 filesharing people are students or employees, but the 12 filesharing infringers are being sought. The pre-litigation settlements offer each of the 12 the chance to settle out of court for about $3,000 or so.

If the 12 suspected of filesharing don’t comply, then they risk being taken to court for anything up to $75,000.

The University of Utah has said that it will pass on the letters to the 12 involved, but it will only pass on details to the RIAA if a legal subpoena is received, which might well happen given previous filesharing cases involving the RIAA.

So students are still being targeted by the RIAA. It looks like there will be no peace in this filesharing battle any time soon.

Comcast finally decided to play ball when it comes to filesharing and BitTorrent, news has emerged that Comcast is teaming up with Pando Networks to draw up a bill of rights for Internet users and ISPs.

Pando will reportedly be assisting Comcast in how it manages its Internet traffic. Pando uses a P2P filesharing protocol with files stored on and served up by users. The protocol works in a similar way to programs such as eMule.

Comcast has said that it will soon announce results from tests being conducted on its network to analyze how filesharing programs operate.

This signals yet more positive steps for Comcast with regards to filesharing. As we all know, Comcast has been under fire for allegedly limited access to filesharing services.

It’s yet to be made clear how Comcast’s new system will work or how it will affect its subscribers, but it will be interesting to see what the study brings up.

Remember Jammie Thomas, the world’s most famous filesharing user. She was fined $220,000 for making tracks available for filesharing on the Kazaa network. After asking people to buy her thongs to raise money for her cause, Jammie is back in the headlines this week, and it could be good news for her.

This whole story has the potential to majorly shake up the way people are charged for copyright infringement when using filesharing services. We’ve reported several times that judges are starting to question whether making tracks available is enough to warrant being charged with copyright violations.

The judge in Jammie’s case is considering this exact point and Jammie may now get a retrial. The jury in the original case was told that making a track available is enough to be charged, but there is now some serious debate as the whether this should now be the case in a court of law.

Could this finally be the break that Jammie has been waiting for?