by Pete Capra 14:50, 21 Oct 2004 (EST)
Developed by Free Peers Inc, BearShare is a closed source software client that connects to the [[Filesharing_and_P2P-Gnutella | Gnutella}] P2P file-sharing network. It was released in 2000 shortly before Napster reached its peak and subsequently its legal troubles. BearShare became quite popular due to its user-friendly interface – many other Gnutella clients, including the original Gnutella itself, were difficult to use. BearShare provided all the features of the Gnutella file-sharing protocol but allowed easier control over those features.
The program also boasted unique features of its own such as Quality of Service Rank (QoS) and Web Server control. QoS Rank was a rating calculated by BearShare based on the quality of the download connection, firewalls and other factors. This rating allowed users to choose the best connection for their downloads and avoid laggy or slow connections. Web Server control allowed users to indicate which files they would like available for download for other users, and which files they would not like shared. This was a big step in Copyright Protection – it allowed users to distribute Copyright free material while still protecting other Copyrighted files.
BearShare managed to stay at the fore front of file-sharing along side other Gnutella clients such as LimeWire and eDonkey for a year, but started to lose popularity after because of its lack of support for Partial File Sharing (PFS). This oversight was outlined as major issue by the design team and was quickly developed into the next version. Being ad-supported software, BearShare was able to be released for free for download, and relied on advertising to fund the design and development team so that regular updates and improvements could be made to the program.
Recently, BearShare made headlines in the File-Sharing community by partnering with YourVoteMatters.Org and providing the functionality to register to vote through BearShare. Vincent Falco, CEO of BearShare stated that "Our users are passionate and opinionated about BearShare. We are encouraging them to get as passionate about the community and country as they are about BearShare by voting. Regardless of whether they vote Democrat, Republican or independent or some other party, it's vital for them to participate in the political process." BearShare and YourVoteMatters.Org aim to sign up over 1 million new voters by the Federal Election in November 2004.
About.Com: Digital Music (2004) “BearShare: The Next Napster?� retrieved October 13, 2004, from http://mp3.about.com/library/weekly/aa021901.htm
BearShare (2004) “The World’s best Gnutella Client� retrieved October 17, 2004, from http://www.bearshare.com
BearShare 4.6.0 (2004) Created by Free Peers Inc. Tampa, FL.: Free Peers Inc. [Software: Download]
Business-Wire (2004) “BearShare File-sharing Service Registers Voters through the Your Vote Matters.org Online Voter Registration Service� retrieved October 19, 2004, from http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040907005852&newsLang=en
WikiPedia (2004) “BearShare� retrieved October 11, 2004, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BearShare
P2P File Sharing Networks
Napster
Gnutella
Morpheus
Kazaa
Pete Capra 11:33, 21 Oct 2004 (EST)
