Kazaa Tops Yahoo Search in 2003
December 29, 2003
by Thomas Mennecke
So how popular is file-sharing? Surely its not as popular as Harry Potter or Eminem, right? Well, it appears that the statistics favor Kazaa over any other pop icon.
Kazaa, spearheaded by Sharman Networks, has surrounded itself in a tumultuous sea of controversy in 2003. The Australian based company has become the sworn enemy of the RIAA, accusing the file-sharing company of being nothing more than an Internet piracy machine. However, a recent Supreme Court ruling in Holland dismissed this notion, stating that Kazaa is not responsible for the actions of its users. Similar rulings in the United States have been judged in favor of StreamCast (Morpheus) and Grokster, however we await such a ruling for Kazaa.
Since the fall of Napster, Kazaa has become one of the most popular file-sharing clients in the history of P2P. The FastTrack network (the network Kazaa connects to) has easy expanded well beyond Napster, which only had about 1.5 million users at its peak. At FastTrack's peak during the summer months, nearly 5 million users were trading and collection everything from movies to music to mp3 files.
Several reversals have taken their toll on this venerable network. The RIAA's campaign against file-traders has had some impact on this community, as its population has slipped below 4 million users. However, the United States Court of Appeals ruling, which stated the RIAA could no longer subpoena ISPs, seems to have halted this slide. Will Kazaa hang on to be the most popular term in 2004?
Here's the top 10 results from Yahoo.com:
1. KaZaa
2. Harry Potter
3. "American Idol"
4. Britney Spears
5. 50 Cent
6. Eminem
7. WWE
8. Paris Hilton
9. NASCAR
10. Christina Aguilera
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