Kazaa, BearShare, Morpheus and LimeWire are stealing from websites

31/07/2003

My respect to virtually any P2P networks has just hit the rock bottom, after I found out that major P2P tools, including Morpheus, Kazaa, BearShare and LimeWire are stealing money from thousands of websites around the world, including ours. They have secretly

bundled a new type of software to their tools, in addition to their existing privacy-violating spyware tools, that can be only described as stealware.

  How this piece of evil works? Whenever you decide to purchase something from the Net, the stealware that is installed on your computer -- and it is running even when your P2P software is not running! -- kicks in and checks if the store you're buying from, has an affiliate system that the P2P software vendor is using. If so, software simply replaces the existing affiliate cookie on your browser with its own cookie. This means that if you want to purchase books, software, etc using the Amazon.com links or other similiar links, the small commission money actually goes to Kazaa, Morpheus, BearShare or LimeWire instead of our site. Same applies to all sites in the world -- charities, who try to raise money by affiliate programs, etc.

  Because of this, it is strongly recommended to stop using Morpheus and BearShare, users should use alternative P2P tools, such as DC++, Direct Connect or WinMX.

  Here are the simple instructions also how to remove the stealware pieces -- removing them might alter your P2P software so that it doesn't work after you've removed the stealware. But then again, supporting software vendors who go as low as this, is something that we all should avoid.

  Remove the stealware called BUYERSPORT:

  -Click the Start button.
  -Click on Find.
  -Click on Find Files or Folders.
  -Type in mbho.dll. Click on find now. When the file appears in the directory window, drag mbho.dll into the trash or hit Delete.

  Remove the stealware called LIMESHOP (comes with LimeWire):

  -Click the Start button.
  -Click on Settings.
  -Click Control Panel.
  -Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
  -Click LimeShop.
  -Click Add/Remove.

  Remove the stealware called SAVENOW (comes with Kazaa):

  -Click on Start.
  -Click Settings.
  -Click on Control Panel.
  -Double-click on Add/Remove Programs.
  -Click SaveNow.