File-Sharing Program Slips Out of AOL Offices
 

Amy Harmon

AOL Time Warner is trying to stop the spread of new software released by its Nullsoft division, whose founder and lead programmer, Justin Frankel, is known for leaking his work onto the Internet and causing headaches for his employer.

The new program makes it easy for groups of about 50 people to set up file-sharing networks that are secure and private. In addition to letting users search for and download files, it includes an instant messaging feature that could be seen as competition for AOL Instant Messenger, which provides AOL with a crucial presence on millions of computer screens.

The software's documentation says it is designed to allow small business groups to collaborate. But encrypted networks are also the next holy grail for Internet file-swappers as media companies — including AOL — prepare to file lawsuits against people who copy music without paying for it by using publicly accessible programs like KaZaA.

Mr. Frankel, 24, went to work for AOL when it bought his four-person company, Nullsoft, in 1999 for stock worth $80 million. The author of Winamp, software that helped popularize the MP3 music format on the Internet, Mr. Frankel has seemed intent on retaining his hacker credibility even while working for one of the world's largest media conglomerates.

The release of the new program late Wednesday night on the Nullsoft Web site echoed the release in March 2000 of Gnutella, designed by Mr. Frankel and his team, which was available on the Nullsoft site for a few hours in March 2000 before AOL removed it.

With Napster mired in litigation, Gnutella provided a framework that developers used to build a system that could mimic Napster's functions without a central server, thus making it almost impossible to shut down. Gnutella and its clones are now widely used to trade, among other things, movies and music from AOL's entertainment divisions.

Mr. Frankel and his team later developed a free add-on to the Winamp player that searched the Web for MP3 files. AOL quickly removed that project from the Nullsoft site, too.

Nullsoft then released AIMazing, software to replace banner advertising on AOL's instant messenger with images of sound waves and music. It remains available on the Web, though not on the Nullsoft site.

Mr. Frankel, who lists his title as "benevolent dictator" of the Nullsoft team, is a bit of a self-styled rebel, once proclaiming in his public weblog that he needs to continue doing things that are "cool." But he has been largely silent since the Gnutella episode, which came just as AOL was merging with Time Warner.

The Nullsoft team's wishful description of themselves online as "legitimate nihilistic media terrorists" (the company name is a jab at Microsoft) also appears to have vanished.

Their new program is called Waste, in an apparent allusion to the underground postal system that allowed people to evade the authorities in the Thomas Pynchon novel "The Crying of Lot 49." Its release as a free download, complete with the underlying source code, elicited cheers from Mr. Frankel's Internet fans.

In a message to an Internet discussion list he runs on the convergence of entertainment and technology, John Parres suggested that Mr. Frankel's aim was not to facilitate copyright infringement but free speech. "Justin is a 21st century code warrior freedom fighter," he wrote.

Whatever Mr. Frankel's cause, AOL was anything but enthusiastic. Less than 24 hours after the new program was released, the company pulled it from the Nullosft site. On Friday evening, it posted a stern warning informing anyone who had obtained a copy that the release had not been authorized.

"You acquired no lawful rights to the software and must destroy any and all copies of the software, including by deleting it from your computer," the notice reads. "Any license that you may believe you acquired with the software is void, revoked and terminated."

Some critics suggested that the program's developers may not have cleared all the rights to the encryption technology they used, or may lack the export license required for many encryption products.

An AOL spokeswoman said the company had no further comment. Mr. Frankel did not respond to e-mail or phone messages.

Many of supporters of Waste suggested in Internet discussions over the weekend that the program was fundamentally different from file-sharing software like Napster or Grokster because fewer than 100 people can use it at a time. The number of files available for copying would most likely never rival those available on such networks, which are often used by several million people at once.

But Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said the number of files involved was irrelevant according to his organization's reading of copyright law. "Personal copies are O.K.," Mr. Lamy said. " `Sharing' with someone else so they don't have to purchase is not, whether it's one person or 15 people or 5 million people."

Mr. Lamy said he could not comment specifically on Waste because the group had not seen it. He registered surprise, however, when a reporter described the situation on Friday afternoon: "Wait — AOL is distributing it?" he asked.

Not anymore, but plenty of others are. Nullsoft's developers published Waste under the GNU Public License from the Free Software Foundation, which authorizes anyone to modify and redistribute a program's underlying source code. Dozens of Waste networks appeared to be up and running over the weekend, with several sites continuing to distribute the code despite AOL's warning.

"Whatever Justin releases tends to be of some import," said Shawn Yeager, a technology consultant in Toronto, who is making Waste available from his site. "Given his history and the personal respect I have for the work he does it seems to me to be important enough to preserve."

Still, Eben Moglen, a lawyer for the Free Software Foundation, said that if the release was unauthorized it would not matter if it had his group's "open source" designation. If AOL were to take one of the distributors to court, a judge would need to decide how much authority Mr. Frankel had, Mr. Moglen said.

"It doesn't matter what the license says if the distributor didn't intend to distribute it," Mr. Moglen said. But he noted the "open source" license, as a practical matter, makes it hard to recapture software once it has been released.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/02/te...rtne r=GOOGLE

there appears to a be a good link to d/l it at ZP...if anyone's interested:cool:

Read that novel damnit!!! Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49. (That is, if you want an allegory of the internet - among many other things). Its both creepy and hillariously funny.

http://gatekeeper.naphoria.com/appz/...aste-setup.exe

(shhhhsh!)

Ð :S:

Re: File-Sharing Program Slips Out of AOL Offices
 

Is this the official line?

There is a bit of confusion about RIAA's ability to snoop on this new network. The encryption is not the problem, as any node on the network will be able to read all traffic. The barrier is that in order to join the network (the architecture supports up to 50 nodes) you need the network's public key and a node ip address. Also, once in, it's impossible to kick someone out; you'd have to regroup and form a new network. So people will create networks, and won't let anyone they don't know in.

It sounds like a distributed FTP server ring, not a bad idea.

Is anyone interested in forming an NU waste network?

MUGWHUMPJISMSYN2
 

i would love to check this out...

some tech stuff on it a few threads down...

Where the he!! did it go???!!!!!!

Me want too!!

:(

did u have a look on ZP ,goldie?
 

Rogue AOL Subsidiary Leader to Resign

By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. - A young programmer whose software startup, Nullsoft, was gobbled up by America Online — and then caused numerous headaches for its corporate parent — plans to resign after his latest piece of rebel code was pulled from the Internet.

Justin Frankel, 24, announced his intentions late Monday, less than a week after a file-sharing program called Waste was posted and then pulled from the Nullsoft Web site.

"The company controls the most effective means of self-expression I have," he said in his Web log. "This is unacceptable to me as an individual, therefore I must leav (sic). I don't know when it will be, but I'm not going to last much longer."

Attempts to reach Frankel by telephone were not successful. An AOL spokeswoman declined to comment.

AOL paid $86 million for Nullsoft in 1999. At the time, the San Francisco company was best known for creating a popular music player called Winamp.

Despite the new corporate ownership, Nullsoft's team of programmers managed to maintain a freestyle hacker culture.

In March 2000, Nullsoft briefly posted a decentralized file-sharing program called Gnutella (news - web sites) before it was axed by AOL. But the genie had been set free, and other developers refined the code to create post-Napster (news - web sites) file-sharing programs.

Nullsoft's latest creation was a file-sharing program that allowed users to set up secure networks of no more than 50 people.

Within hours of its posting, Waste was deleted. In its place was a notice that said the program had been posted without Nullsoft's permission.

"If you downloaded or otherwise obtained a copy of the software, you acquired no lawful rights to the software and must destroy any and all copies of the software, including by deleting it from your computer," the statement said. "Any license that you may believe you acquired with the software is void, revoked and terminated."

Frankel, who is called "Our Benevolent Dictator" on the Nullsoft site, founded the company in 1998 after dropping out of the University of Utah.

___

come on multi - we're all dirty pirates here
 

I find it hard to believe no one has this buried somewhere.......

;(

Edit!


:o Just saw your title :D

see diego, above, or pm me w/email addy. :)

- js.

Had problems with de link.

PM on de way...............har de har matey.

:tu:

Now girls and boys - shall we do our own thing here?

What a neat lil alternative p2p.

That means, we can share our pr0n collections with only the peeps we know and trust :o

I'm game as a bush full of quail.


HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY - thankies!

I'm bush as a game full of quail. ..too :)

count me in, kids - i got lots to share and i know you guys do too:tu:

i got the prog but have not opened it yet, so i'm unsure of how we proceed. i'll check it out tonight - save me a slot:BL:

alright, so i'm late for work, but i couldn't resist....

i set this up, but the instructions are slim to none - i assume we exchange private keys? anyone else figure this out yet?

ok
 

I've installed it..........no problemo and there is virtually no documentation but i did manage (haha) to create a key.

Problem I see is where can we advertise our keys...........here isn't such a good idea I'd think since it wouldn't be so private anymore :S

Ideas anyone? Multi? JS?

i'd look at pm's or emails. we're talking about small groups. fifty at the most tho i don't it'll get even that big for a while. maybe a dozen or less to start.

- js.

im just about to have a look now

i made a key and a chat room .it looks good
if thers a some where to connect?
i dint find that yet..;)

So? We have a network? Room for one more? I'm all installed and running, PM me key and instructions if you want :)

so how do we work this? exchange private keys? do i pm you w/ my private key or vice versa?

so we're up and running. :AP: the app installed without crashing our pc's. that's good news. now we just have to figure out to connect the client to our private network. :con:

we will have to swap keys at some point but i'd like to know how this client finds other clients when most if not all of us have floating ip's.

we may need to name the network too. suggestions? i started a "Napsterites" chat - but nobody's home at the moment.

right now i'd be happy to find the options menu.

- js.

edit. nevermind, i found it.

I believe you exchange your public keys with a member of the network. Then your public key gets broadcast to everyone else. You never ever reveal your private key in any public-private crypto scheme :) Never. I have a static ip too.

Pod?

Then we definitely must have an official network name along with a public (not private) key?

OK, let's get the ball rolling. Here's my public key and IP:

[deleted!]

network name: napsterites

Anyone with a static ip pm me your info or post here. It's just a test for kicks network; you can always change your private key later.

KEYS – primer

To retrieve your Public Key:

Go to File | Preferences | Private key. Click "Copy my public key to the clipboard" then open notepad and paste.

The key that appears is your Public Key. That's the one you give out.


To install Public Keys from other users:

Go to File | Preferences | Public keys. Click "Add". Paste key under "Public key text" in bottom box. Click "Load key text". Click "OK". Close.

- js.

my key:

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 JackSpratts
BA06485FBE7E0CBAF60A9C0285ECFD35F62FD5EFB492523EC3B3746CEE63
2D86EE2963FCFA38E608E3C464183E177D569D0CC44B936DABBF55C481E8
B828817E7944BE4C0A8795F2FA81BBFC96E1DE85F3A63BB662E7EB65E980
ECD0059AF021078912F2E6BC256BD06C26C7AD8DED2E3DD711CC58FDB7EA
1678A7289038C13FC21D94671536B3E850C6805AE19B74A2E7ED6EBDD42E
BABBA8B2D7815B40E0F1C6545676E051B0CF60C1DDF2C86836732BA9DF6E
6159380B30F34AEB1DB56B9F0003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END

paste entire text, from the first WASTE to the last END.

- js.

OK, I imported your key, you should be able to connect now? Don't forget the network name.

I send a file to myself on a lan with 2 clients...connected with thew same key

okies..

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 goldie
C7A9BF9DBD98EE09A6E394B4A3563FE833E27426AB631541890CECE8B0E8
A30D370B750A7BDAD4AD3F8CCE631C95F8EAB9D690D6968E044D9E60A04B
959D09E715131EE651BAAC0F3228127CCD115988AF9BD5F797A8A50263F2
801873BAC50B81179874C39AC1356CB6987106B499B81C0032D83D5B0FB8
AE7342E05F29EA4001C12D377FB97402241219E6D8686E55DBE478C6BC92
35A297BDA54601F4C160378BB9A970DA304E176C7015B64468D8177E7207
963C34F38610FD84177DB4270003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END



Edit: IF we have to specify an IP for each user and use a LAN's IP, is that the IP I should specify along with my key?

Sorry for not making good sense, Zzzzz time coming fast.

I just noticed that using pod's IP gave me immediate joy.

ok, I gotta go afk now, so post your keys here, and hopefully we'll have a network going here in a while :)

BTW, you don't need a static to play, you just need to know the ip of someone on the network, and exchange keys with them. So far goldie's joined, but she's stingy and isn't sharing anything. :dir:

well i'm missing something. i'm not getting a bite. we'll figure it out. :ND:

g'night.

- js. :zzz:

Alrighty
 

Pod and I are doing the nasty.

I'm having problems connecting to you, JS.

Does giving a specific IP addy along with the public key have anything to do with it, ya think?

Oh hush, I'm working on it ;)

Will say this thought - WAY COOL!!

:tu:

goldy - where did you enter pod's ip?

- js.

i have been using the network status
heres mine too then
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 multi
ACD007F62470F4DF83748BBF71D233C88CFE2F36964116A0F89909E3C940
921A9BCDAEF8DA7C2CAB9105AD35CEFF136E08845E8FA1B769E747C22199
932B187284A94B51B5BB7A8ADF6C902BBFD203050ECEDD73D6DE5A7F6B7C
CFBDC58706AD7B39C9212E4243EC84E75EE9D9796978FFEA85B70BEBD18D
21A01A193AC696263EC7D7179916C2A94034CDD6906095D5B3F4434D12C1
4FF5834A9510EC86A3594051E283B1C5D4CA2B8DA90A6A3A511392C01C3E
653CF7809093DB8CC47D60870003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END

whoo hoo...

Network Status window, in the drop down combo box at top.

Instead of entering his name, i entered his ip......i think lol.

well whatever you did it worked! i'll see you later. :)

- js.

.its cool!

One lil word of warning here
 

I, unlike some of my fellow napsterites, I am NOT a neat freak!!!

So, when you cruise through my directories, just keep in mind that just because some people keep a cluttered house, it doesn't necessarily mean they're complete slobs :CG:

Now, where the heck did I hide that 'collection' again?


:BL:

thanks pod..:)
that was good test out
i give this little beuty a big:tu: thumbs up...no wonder they where trying to keep it away from the p2p community..:no:

heres a pic of the old 50's miles davis
i sent u...seems i caught u all just b4 bed time?

omfg..this is not bad for dialup..
yeah goldie i cant get at your stuff maybe u should just try the normal ip

no wonder it became such a bone of contention..

here's mine...i gotta go back thru these posts and se what you guys did to get this going...

ok, so lemme get this straight:

you load the public keys of each member in preferences>public keys

you load the ip address of each member in the dropdown box in the network window

you then exchange private keys with each member? if so, where do you put it?

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 JackSpratts
BA06485FBE7E0CBAF60A9C0285ECFD35F62FD5EFB492523EC3B3746CEE63
2D86EE2963FCFA38E608E3C464183E177D569D0CC44B936DABBF55C481E8
B828817E7944BE4C0A8795F2FA81BBFC96E1DE85F3A63BB662E7EB65E980
ECD0059AF021078912F2E6BC256BD06C26C7AD8DED2E3DD711CC58FDB7EA
1678A7289038C13FC21D94671536B3E850C6805AE19B74A2E7ED6EBDD42E
BABBA8B2D7815B40E0F1C6545676E051B0CF60C1DDF2C86836732BA9DF6E
6159380B30F34AEB1DB56B9F0003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 2048 pod
D1CA73BA17331157D23FD7C43B2BACB3DC35CD2EBA661D9CBF7F2AED99B7
0D1766C4778468EF82089A2BFB5EB25B5D6E4FEFC6E22DD56CFDD2114C09
C1DC9E3356D399C6845FC6B878AC2EDFC9CF0D97E8A1898487AAA5AD004A
EB94ED20A814760655E963E08121B753AFE6BCBF90861810ED2E479299E4
A86B88850EA74DD9B72CC55E0BE1029C68144EA8EB243E6EE92EA581A1B0
08C69339565CBF5CCA050B28876EACD111895194A11EAD144BAA775C9F62
0459432AFFA8233413C02ED2028DABAAA837E909C82011B166BDA327A2B1
8FB82D8DFD536CDFD7275378224003A5EA0C0CA9A21A60A1D51C931701EE
A23FD677761194DD10BA69389212B77B0003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 the knife
C4BE86C26EB3198852F42BC8770FEA8026EE61080F9ECDDB43F3B9C0813F
FAEF45E781F77135B5E3B756C1351764D97A38D4C2457591AF833FC6BE42
572C0752DF3D4CF1DE9609F87CA1CBB7703DFD60EF1178B9317301AED35F
25C9C8FAFC986C035B1CCA51912B735D8A25BC77AC267001BD15A7A14F8A
94A8395EB9A6F8027EB06D0669326963F7E8BA4981ABA3D4547632E24A50
10510C15BEC331D1C7494078163CC98A99FE2D7767FAFA10F327EEAC18DE
9F6A9F33950A0BD3BD919A5D0003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 goldie
C7A9BF9DBD98EE09A6E394B4A3563FE833E27426AB631541890CECE8B0E8
A30D370B750A7BDAD4AD3F8CCE631C95F8EAB9D690D6968E044D9E60A04B
959D09E715131EE651BAAC0F3228127CCD115988AF9BD5F797A8A50263F2
801873BAC50B81179874C39AC1356CB6987106B499B81C0032D83D5B0FB8
AE7342E05F29EA4001C12D377FB97402241219E6D8686E55DBE478C6BC92
35A297BDA54601F4C160378BB9A970DA304E176C7015B64468D8177E7207
963C34F38610FD84177DB4270003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END


that is the list i have so far....
not bad i have been connected to pod for over 10hrs..

pods the one that needs all of those keys for u guys to get in there..i am pretty sure..

Nope, anyone already on the network can add more keys, that's why you're not supposed to add just anyone. The keys will spread to everyone eventually. You can only connect to the person who has your key. As your key spreads, you'll be able to connect to more and more people on the network.

It's a pretty neat system actually.

yeah it's "pretty neat" alright, and i can't get on! ;( wtf?

- js.

i'm on! finally! jeebersfrrigginkryptos! i thought i was going to have to call mit. :D

- js.

I agree - I think it's a great p2p software for small trusted groups. The chat worked swiftly and the transfers were fast in my own tests. The multiple window user interface is perhaps a little messy but one gets used to it quite soon. Kudos to Justin Frankel for another important contribution to p2p! :AP: :AP:

- tg :WA:

yes, the windows are clumsy and some of us are having trouble browsing others for whatever reason. we are teaching ourselves as we go along but so far this looks like an app that answers a serious need that smaller groups have, like us for instance. it's like a stripped down groove in that sense and let me 2nd tg's kudos to frankel, father of winamp and gnutella and now waste (hate the name lol).

multi's sending me a file from austrailia and the counter says it's coming in at 6.82kbs. that's a little too fast for dialup, not that i'm complaining but i'm wondering of the counter is off.

first day of school.

- js.

Re: One lil word of warning here
 

its wery well hiddem..:tu:
got a firewall on somewhere in the router maybe?

heres another of my spam posts..
 

..

I think the Network Status window has a more accurate bandwidth counter. The transfer window is off for some reason.

Yeah, the interface is messy, and many features are missing, but like with Gnutella the source for WASTE is released as well. Hopefully some group will pick it up and make a good client for it, maybe improve network performance.

most def..:tu:

Oh okay fess up
 

Who's IP begins with a 172?

WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY 20 1536 Ðiego
BB66AA1EDE7A0B44F5E13C47ECEC111573E54AC137C9CAC08EA2C2D58491
876DA18F44F82383F2DD4AEB111AD6A821EC54B3CE09442138A3878F1F02
344DA7D128AD68C4931040765BC5B82A1B079CD1D4DB851E0DE7CA6FE428
4B02628A9E78FFA543D8BA839AC6DAD6BB825AADBFF7D77427BDADF60754
FA19E39811299CBAE155A2838816565113423BF009C3EA7032BD8268C6C9
5DA35639EB15E07B89A64CC8D303101C020131F9C65E1D4059933A2A7FBA
9CB03347A4BD1C4DD2D982770003010001
WASTE_PUBLIC_KEY_END