Skip to content
Kazaa
EntityQ1163401· pop 21· linked from 525 articles

Also known as Kazaa Media Desktop

Kazaa Media Desktop ( ; once stylized as "KaZaA", but later usually written "Kazaa") was a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks. Kazaa was subsequently under license as a legal music subscription service by Atrinsic, Inc., which lasted until August 2012.

Key facts

Software.name
Kazaa Media Desktop
Software.title
Kazaa Media Desktop
Software.logo
Kazaa (logo).png
Software.logo_size
x64px
Software.developer
Sharman Networks
Software.discontinued
yes
Software.latest release version
3.2.7
Software.operating system
Microsoft Windows
Software.genre
Peer-to-peer
Software.license
Proprietary

via Wikipedia infobox

~11 min read

Encyclopedic overview

6 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Lawsuits
  • Bundled malware
  • Transitional period
  • See also
  • References

Kazaa Media Desktop ( ; once stylized as "KaZaA", but later usually written "Kazaa") was a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks. Kazaa was subsequently under license as a legal music subscription service by Atrinsic, Inc., which lasted until August 2012.

Kazaa Media Desktop was commonly used to exchange MP3 music files and other file types, such as videos, applications, and documents over the Internet. The Kazaa Media Desktop client could be downloaded free of charge; however, it was bundled with adware and for a period there were "No spyware" warnings found on Kazaa's website. During the years of Kazaa's operation, Sharman Networks and its business partners and associates were the target of copyright-related lawsuits, related to the content distributed via Kazaa Media Desktop on the FastTrack protocol.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kazaa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (2)