| Product: |
KaZaA |
| Date: |
10.08.04 (449 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: could give you access to free files
Disadvantages: it is theft, it will cause you heartache, it will mess up your computer
I was fooled into thinking that use of the Kazaa website might give me access to films that never made it to general release, and to be able to save them.
My advisor said it was no problem, and attributed the slow speed of his computer to the fact that he was sharing his files with others.
The cd he gave me of the key files needed was rejected by my copy of Macafee, and so I went to the website to download the original file sharing software.
It was immediately obvious that things were not as they should be during and after the download.
Be warned that Kazaa will hijack your system. Amongst the things it changed were my default internet browser, the list of favourites, the desktop, settings on IE6, attempts to choose its own antivirus software over macafee. settings within Zone Alarm,and that was before I had even run the software.
Using the software once was enough for me.
After one use, Spybot search and detect indicated that 21 pieces of spyware/adware had been installed on my machine, and I decided to delete the whole shooting match. Even so, I am still left with orphan programmes, and can only assume that as I have been running Macafee the whole time, that no more viruses crept onto the system.
Reading other reviews indicates that this is the general nature of things, and that Kazaa makes its money by allowing others to access your computer for things other than you want. Once can only guess that some of the individuals who have reported having their dial up connections hijacked by premium telephone lines may be related to the use of kazaa or similar peer to peer sharing software.
I know that it is expensive to buy original copyright material, but at the end of the day, the creators of these copyright materials deserve to be rewarded in some way for their efforts. Anomalously, the creator of Spybot search and destroy seems to be not so concerned, but he/she has created one of the best bits of freely available software that helps
the non-techy user, and I think that anyone who uses the Internet, especially on a broadband connection should have on their machine:
an up to date virus pack(some of the good ones are still free)
Zone Alarm (free)
SpyBot (free but donations accepted)
a non-microsoft web browser such as Opera.
Summary:
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