ES5 Press Release

[JackSpratts]

The following is the entire Earth Station Five press release as posted today on PRNewsWire.com.

Nothing we haven’t heard before – but this time it comes as an official imprimatur with contact names and numbers. No small thing that.

This application's introduction has been one of the most controversial in recent memory, mostly because of the grand claims - and even grander spamming - on many P2P forums, but lot of that can be written off as clumsiness and is forgivable, especially if this product lives up to those claims.

To that end I’ve put in some calls and I’ll post what I hear back in the next WIR.

- js.

EarthStation5 Launches New Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Software That Protects Users' Privacy and Provides Complete User Anonymity. Inclusion of Additional Free Programs May Threaten Economic Models of Existing Premium Pay2Play Web-Based Services


GAZA CITY, Palestine, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Move over Kazaa, there's a new kid on the island! In development for over one year, EarthStation5 today announced the release of its new ES5 file sharing software (http://www.es5.com) that combines the web's most popular programs and services within one free application. ES5 provides its users with unparalleled levels of security, privacy protection and reliability thus removing much of the risk associated with using file-sharing services such as Kazaa, Grokster and others when sharing and downloading music, movies, games and software.

Stealth & Cloaking Technology

"Normal P2P networks have high ratios of people who only download -- called leechers. Because people who share files have been the most vulnerable to harassment, ES5 now solves that problem. ES5 is the 'Holy Grail of File Sharing' because it provides anonymity for people sharing and downloading files," said EarthStation5 President, Ras Kabir. "Users no longer have to be concerned about what they are sharing, or with whom they are sharing because there is complete anonymity," he added. ES5 uses SSL Encryption (Secure Socket Layer) to prevent 3rd parties from monitoring users' file sharing activity and provides users with IP address anonymity through the use of proxy servers. ES5 is the only P2P program that integrates seamlessly with PGPDisk (a free security program) that lets users fully encrypt the contents of their "Shared Media Folder" so no one other thanthe user can view the contents of their files, such as a spouse, parent, child, employer, school administrator, or IT department. In addition, ES5 dynamic, random ports and encrypted UDP search protocol ensures that no one, including the users' ISP, can block or throttle a user's ES5 file sharing activities or even know the person is using ES5. All file sharing activities look like normal web browsing.

Planets, Suns, Stars and Galaxies

The ES5 network is laid out on a paradigm of planets, suns, stars and galaxies. User planets have no hard links to the network, but float in a galaxy, a virtual, distributed super-base of file information. To find a resource, you explore instead of searching. ES5 also adds many new features such as password protection and the ability to preview a download. Additionally, it supports all types of files -- not just music and video -- and has integrated media management to organize and play music and video files easily.

"You can get lost in ES5 and not come up for days," said one ES5's beta testers, "I'm really wired into it. I've got two movies coming in while I'm watching a third and downloading music at the same time. The movie audio is playing in one ear, and I'm sampling songs in the other." ES5 automatically removes "missing" files from returning search results so only files that are readily available are shown. ES5 has incorporated all the advanced P2P file sharing technologies found in other clients including auto- resume downloads, metadata support, previewing and more. ES5 child protection features include filters to deny access to adult material in addition to segregating ES5's network into adult and non-adult planets so that when activated, it prohibits any images or movies from view on non-adult ES5 systems.

ES5 also provides users with a built-in web server with integrated Dynamic DNS support so individuals can run websites from home-based locations without paying hosting fees. At the host's discretion, website key words can be included in the ES5 search.

No Spyware, No Adware

ES5 does not contain pop-up ads or 3rd party software commonly referred to as "spyware" that is popular in Kazaa and other file-sharing programs.

Integrated Free Popular Web Services

To attract a large user base quickly, ES5 has integrated the web's most popular services yet, charges no usage fees. Its free dating service allows users to meet other "Life Forms" with similar appetites and "download" them into their own life. Its innovative free text/audio/video chat system is the Web's coolest allowing up to 7 users to chat in the same room with full audio and video capabilities so users can actually see each other in real time.

Safe-Haven Operations

Similar to Kazaa's parent, file-sharing developer Sharman Networks, EarthStation5 is incorporated on the South Pacific Island of Vanuatu and in Palestine. To avoid the potential for litigation that has dogged the makers of Kazaa, and Grokster and wiped out companies such as Napster, AudioGalaxy and Scour, EarthStation5 has its offices and its infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza City, where it is not illegal to develop and distribute peer-to- peer file-sharing technology.

Earthstationv Ltd. Management

Earthstationv Ltd. management is comprised of Jordanians, Palestinians, Russians and Israelis of all faiths. Believe it or not, we all love and respect each other. We work and play together. On many occasions our families eat at the same dinner table. We trust each other and are very close friends. As a group, the most important things in our life are our families and, of course, our friends.

ES5 is available as a free download at http://www.es5.com, http://www.earthstation5.com, or sites distributing Internet software including: http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.ht...onv&tg=dl-2001

Contact: Ras Kabir of Earthstationv Ltd.
email: press@earthstation5.com
Telephone: 972-673-51065

U.S. Contact: Steve Taylor of American Media Service,
619-210-2500, steve@17q.com

This release was issued through The Xpress Press News Service, merging e- mail and satellite distribution technologies to reach business analysts and media outlets worldwide. For more information, visit
http://www.XpressPress.com.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2003,+01:44+PM

[Ðiego]

I bet the RIAA own it or some 'security' asswipes looking for the RIAA teat..

In any case, I'll not believe until others see it


Ð

[JackSpratts]

Originally posted by Ðiego
I bet the RIAA own it...

Ð

bare knuckle capitalists would be my guess - oh wait, that's what you said.

i'm all for anonymity but i'd like to know if es5 knows what it's users are doing, and what it plans to do with that info (ie, how much will it cost to make your ah, "history disappear").

- js.

[Ðiego]

I can't see them pulling it off. To do it right all traffic would have to proxy through them and the bandwidth would be staggering. So if they can do it they are either rich and love to blow money, or expect to get it back in spades, or in kind


Ð

[napho]

This is where the domain is registered so you know they have an unlimited bankroll.

http://www.electronicintifada.net/fo...jenincamp.html

[Ðiego]

hehehe   I wouldn't touch this 'client' with a 10meg line  


Ð

[assorted]

who needs another p2p client anyway? there aren't enough?

[JackSpratts]

i interviewed the us spokesman for es 5 for an hour and a half today. he's been with the company for 3 months. i found him to be reasonable and fairly well informed about the technical and political aspects of the art. he's confirmed everything in the release and given me additional details on future plans. i've finished a short piece and i'll post it later this evening instead of waiting for next week's wir. his information comes directly from the developers (he’s been to the mid east to see the operation - not jenin, another area), he told me some amazing things, and he is absolutely adamant it’s all true.

- js.

[multi]

if this does turn out to be any good ..
a esv5lite would have to be on the cards..i reckon
there is a lot of garbage in it, i saw...
not spyware but ...it sort of looked like it wanted direct access to netmeeting and dependant on some other m$ shit (a bit like how kazza uses explorer and WMP..)...but that may be all a bit different now...i doubt it
well i guess ppl will get used to their
planets and galaxies and velocities or WevaTF it is..the first person that asks me whats my velocity ..im going to scream...

[dingdongding]

hey napho just wondering how you connected es5 to this site you posted http://www.electronicintifada.net/f.../jenincamp.html

my skills are pretty basic and all i could find out was that the es5 registered range is 213.152.100.0 - 213.152.101.255 and the above site you reference is 66.113.138.43 which is a hostway corp ip which is unsettling to me coz the riaa uses hostway for ips, specifically for the bs they put out with the kazaa ims and the website they directed ppl to go to ( http://www.musicunited.net./)whose ip is 66.113.130.207. now granted hostway corp supposedly hosts 100,000 entities (whether they're all businesses i don't know) but they must have more ips than just what network solutions shows for hostway.com which is 64.26.0.0 - 64.26.63.255 ...

just curious

(and just an fyi i'm a fasttrackcentral forum junkie in case you're wondering who the newcomer is)

ddd

[napho]

They go through IE for their adult content. I just did a domain search. I'm too lazy to do it any other way!

http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-...&SearchType=do

[JackSpratts]

welcome to napsterites p2p-zone dingdongding! you’re really putting a lot of effort into the news at fastrackmovies.com, and is shows. glad you’ve joined our forums - hope you enjoy them.

(do a ripe whois for earthstationv and the two mid east owners come up.)

- js.

[dingdongding]

thanks js- i come by here to check out your p2p news work and figured i'd join up

on the es5 stuff i know their ip range but what i got thrown off by was the domain posted by napho http://www.electronicintifada.net/f.../jenincamp.html
and now (duh) i see it was just a reference to where they're from- my peerguardian went off when i visited the site coz it's hosted by hostway corp (used by the riaa) so the gears in my brain started shifting lol

also js you should email jon at p2pnet.net (mail [at] p2pnet.net) and think about writing for the site- he's been looking for good writers...

[multi]

i found this users comments on es5 interesting...
they posted this at slyck..

OlderThanDirt:
Earthstation 5's service, which recently launched their first (supposedly) non-beta version, raises some puzzling questions. They say they're located in Palestine ... and by "they," I don't just mean their domain registration info. A person calling himself "SharePro" has posted to the KazaaLite forum as an ES5 representative ... and he claims a Palestinian server location as well. Excuse me ... but, during a time when Israel is being plagued by suicide bombers and concerned over possible linkage to support from Iran's Hezbollah, would Israel's Mossad intelligence service allow the existence of a stealth-server on Palestinian soil ... much less allow such a server to communicate with a multinational usership?

Other questions:

(1) Why does a very quick DOS window open up during installation? What is being done at that moment?

(2) Why does it create a one-megabyte file named OrbitterShellMenu.dll in the Windows\System directory?

(3) Why does it create massive registry entries, mostly under the name 'Excalibur', that remain in the registry even after the program is uninstalled?

(4) Why, after a year's worth of development, is there no apparent news story about it in the usual places like Wired.com or C-Net ... or anywhere else?

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I smell an awful lot of unrefrigerated fish here.

im off to look see if i still have those files about....

[multi]

well i can verify that those entries are still there

[multi]

actually they're not (i just deleted them)

and that file was in the system32 dir as well...

[napho]

Those are just normal settings. The DOS box shows up with MLDonkey and AppleJuice too. This program isn't anything special or dangerous. It's just bloated with glitzy nonsense. Maybe this makes it look tamer.

[JackSpratts]

it's the tail wagging the dog with these guys. each day p2p gets you in their door is a day they hope you'll drop some real cash on gambling, porn, web portal services, hosting - you name it, the stuff they have that makes money. doesn't mean it's spyware or hijackware or even necessarily bad, but it does indicate a maturing p2p market and one we’re not accustomed to.

in the us and most of the west the normal p2p economic models were never allowed to develop. the lawsuits and the courts saw to that. they were killed in the cradle. so we've grown comfortable in this never never land of no costs and no commercials, especially users who take advantage of the cleaned clients and winmx, soulseek, bt, emule etc. investors hung back in a waiting mode and are still killing time in spite of the grokster decision, but economics hates a vacuum and somewhere somebody's going to figure out how to squeeze cash from this file sharing phenom.

for these es 5 guys it may be that p2p is just a big lure that brings customers into their store – nothing more. sure the better the app the more trade it brings in but the focus may be on something else, something non p2p. it might work. from what i’ve heard they’re not all that happy with the staus quo, they want to shake things up and they sound way to ambitious to settle for a peer-to-peer. i mean really, 68 full time programmers for a file sharing app? i don’t think so. they’ve got to be cooking up a lot of other dishes.

it sounds to me like they’re trying to put together another giant, like maybe an adult version of aol. p2p may be just an extra value piece of a soon to be very big puzzle - and something to keep es 5 customer turnover lower than that of their real competitors, like aol, everyday, yahoo, msn, netzero, earthlink…

it goes again to the heart of the west’s misguided technology policies and how irresponsible politicians are willing to prop up dying industries while the future of IT moves offshore. it’s an outrage. doubly so in the states when the dying industries being supported aren’t even american.

- js.

[multi]

erm...?
what can i say but this is going to get wasted...

[monyak]

ES5 Rocks!

I mean they give free sex away http://adult.es5.com free P2P radio station http://es5radio.com and even free p2p tools away from their home page like Cute FTP with the crack http://earthstationv.com/tools.html and Passwords and you are stupid enough to believe they work with the RIAA?

ES5 has been around for over a year now. I can understand being skeptical when they first came out cause they do the unbelieveable, but for f-sakes, let the riaa crap rest now, and enjoy their services with the bullocks.

ES5 now connects to Kazaa, Gnutella and all of the major p2p networks making ES5's network number #1. You get 100x's the search results on ES5. I mean Kazaa Lite is now dead and when it was alive, Kazaa Lite could only connect to Kazaa.