Taxster.cjb.net - File Sharing News and Reviews: Looking for a Napster Alternative?


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rishdeep@hotmail.com

What up y'all. My name is Rish, and welcome to Taxster!.

If you're wondering what this site is, it's basically a place which indexes the most popular file-sharing programs on the Internet and gives them an intensive, but honest and clear review. If you want to find an alternative to Napster - You've come to the right place. Since Napster's servers were closed for good, some people have no idea of what to do in order to get all the MP3s they want to download.

So this site is your one stop, er..........shop, to get any file sharing programs you want to replace Napster. Click on the links on the left to navigate the site and find out about the file-sharing revolution. If you wanna see the list of programs that I have already reviewed, check the top link on the left labelled: The Programs. Or click here. Matter of preference really...

So what makes this site so great? Well basically, there isn't another site on the Internet like Taxster. Nowhere will you find a site that reviews file-sharing programs as clearly and honestly as I have, and nowhere will you find a site that has been created by such a good-looking individual ;-). I've worked hard to ensure that you won't find ANY pop-up or banner ads on this site as I didn't create this site to make money. I created this site because......well, I'm still figuring that out. Hmmmm. Anyways, unfortunately - I couldn't avoid the adverts you'll find on the message board as I'd have to pay to remove them, but a new Message Board (hopefully) is in the works if I ever get off my ass and learn how to program it. And my forwarding address peeps (cjb.net) seem to think they are funny by starting to add the odd pop-up every now and then too. Damn them. Damn them to hell.

Anyways, e-mail me (my address is on the left) if you have any comments about the site.

Enjoy! - Rish

"Labels Battle hold onto DMCA Win" - 8th February 2003
After the scary news we heard around two weeks ago that the music industry started going after an individual user and forcing the ISP to give details about this person, Verizon Communications were trying to counteract this court order. This news comes after this action...

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The recording industry on Friday fought to preserve a preliminary courtroom victory, arguing that Verizon Communications has no choice but to hand over the identity of an alleged Kazaa music pirate.
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The tactic for the music industry to start going after individual users seems to be a last gasp attempt to stop the spread of file-sharing. We'll see how successful they are in the near future...

[ LINK ]

"KaZaA Strikes Back at Hollywood, labels" - 28th January 2003
Even more comical news. Who would have thought that the company running a file-sharing program used to distribute millions of copyrighted files could sue the major record labels and Hollywood studios??

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Sharman Networks, owner of the popular Kazaa file-swapping software, has launched a legal counterstrike against the major record labels and Hollywood studios, asserting that they have “obscenely” abused their copyright powers.
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For more on this hilariously ironic story, check out the link below:

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Hilary Rosen (Head of the RIAA) to Step Down - 23th January 2003
BWAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Find out more at the link.

[ LINK ]

"RIAA Wins Battle to ID Kazaa User" - 21st January 2003
Gah! Kinda scary news coming from Cnet today. What they had to say was the following:

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"A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Verizon Communications to disclose the identity of an alleged peer-to-peer pirate in a legal decision that could make it easier for the music industry to crack down on file-swapping networks."
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I'm not too sure what effect this will have with the entire community, but it does seem to be quite a significant victory for the RIAA. Check out the full story at the link:

[ LINK ]

Shawn Fanning (creator of Napster) to Appear on TechTV - 20th January 2003
Those lucky enough to have TechTV in their country (god damn I hate England...) will be lucky enough to see creator of Napster Shawn Fanning on "The Screen Savers" this Tuesday (I believe). You wouldn't want to miss that I'm sure. Those (like me) who don't have TechTV should be able to see it soon via their website http://www.techtv.com. Find out more at the link:

[ LINK ]

Microsoft Unveils New CD Copy Protection - 20th January 2003
After many unsucessful attempts to beat music piracy by disabling the chance of PCs to read and/or rip music from CDs, Microsoft believe they have found the answer to copy protection:

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Microsoft believes it may have come up with a solution. The new software is called the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit.

It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in multiple layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo and a PC.

The PC layer, laid digitally on the same disc, can be modified by the content provider, so that they could prevent, for example, burning songs onto another CD, said David Fester, general manager, digital media entertainment for Microsoft.
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Reckon they are on to something? I sure as hell don't ;-). Read the full story at the link:

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Guess who's Back. Back again. Rish is Back. Tell a friend... - 18th January 2003
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!! Yep, it's been around 7 months, (just check out the date of the last update :-o) but I'm back with a new flow. And by new flow, I mean more updates, more often. I hope. Reason I've been away for so long is for various reasons - exams, then a holiday and then a LOT coursework I've had to do (and am still doing........grrr.......). SOOOOO, because I've been away for so long, I've got a bit of a treat for you - a looooooooong review of the "new version of Blubster" - named Piolet (confused? Read the review). Also, I've updated the Articles page with a bunch of new......well, articles, made slight modifications to the What is Spyware? and The Programs pages and added more info about myself (in case you were interested) in the What is Taxster? page. You may have noticed a couple of new pages too - most notably the Old News link (nothing much worth checking out there, just some........old...........news) and the Visitors Comments link. On the latter, you'll find a bunch of messages that people have e-mailed me over the past year or so about the site, which you may find entertaining.

Anyways, enjoy it all. And I just want to say SORRY FOR BEING AWAY FOR SO LONG. I'll try and make sure it doesn't happen again - Rish

Back Again... - 11th June 2002
Yes, I realise its been quite a while since I last updated the site, but first I had to revise for my exams, then I had other things to do, then I simply couldn't be pissed to do ANYTHING, and now I decided to get back up. Phew. Anyways, got a bit of a treat for you this update - a new review of the WinMX client which has been released recently which includes the much needed feature of multi-source downloading (wa-hey!). Also, after SO many e-mails of the question constantly being asked: "What is Spyware?" "What is Spyware?", I decided to add a new page on the site labelled.........What is Spyware? (original, huh?) which should clear up the situation for most of you. A lot of little tweaking has been done to this site also - for each review, I have added new bits of information to state whether those clients contain spyware or not. Also, you may have noticed the slightly different site design which I cooked up. Anyways, enjoy the updates. - Rish

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