"WinMX".
WinMX is a peer-to-peer file sharing program authored by Frontcode Technologies that runs on Windows operating systems. The official WinMX website and WinMX servers have been offline since September 2005 due to a lawsuit (see the "Decline" and "Resurrection" sections below), but the application remains operable through third-party modifications and an active community of supporters.
WinMX began its life as an OpenNAP client capable of connecting to several servers simultaneously, although Frontcode later created a proprietary protocol, termed WinMX Peer Network Protocol (WPNP), which was used starting with WinMX 2 in May 2001. WPNP version 2 was phased out as WinMX 3.0 and its WPNP version 3 protocol came into existence. Frontcode had operated several cache servers to aid WPNP network operation.
Downloads can be very fast for popular songs since the user can run a "multi-point download" that simultaneously downloads the same file in small pieces from several users. Some consider WinMX a much safer downloading program than Kazaa, partly due to the fact that no spyware and adware comes with WinMX. The client application Lopster used to have WPNP 2 support, although it was locked out with the arrival of WPNP 3.
WinMX was popular in east Asian countries, particularly Japan, due to its ability to handle two-byte characters. Unicode text support, required for support of file names containing Asian-language characters, was long a rare feature in file sharing applications. WinMX was also designed to allow the insertion of custom user-designed GUI templates, a unique modular design which allowed multi-language versions to be easily created by third-party translators, independently of any interaction with the core developer. By 2001 it was the de facto file sharing application in Japan. However, WinMX' Japanese popularity dropped sharply with the arrest of several users, and resulted in the development of a semi-secure, encrypted, serverless application called WinNY (N comes after M, Y comes after X). WinMX is also especially popular in Great Britain, Italy and Hong Kong.
In early 2004, rumors circulated in Hong Kong that the Hong Kong Customs Department was prosecuting people who were using WinMX to share copyrighted items. This was untrue; under HK's laws the copyright holder needs to take action to drive non-criminal prosecution.
The WinMX program houses a few inbuilt features such as bandwidth monitoring, short messaging, and hosting chatrooms. Often, two users negotiate an exchange of their files with the help of the short messaging system or chat. After the transfers have started, one gets the option of selecting an individual bandwidth for the other to make sure both transfers end more or less at the same time. Apart from these, the program itself has several distinct drawbacks. It eats up huge amounts of memory when run for a long time. It also needs some third party add on programs to monitor automated file exchanges and accelerate search results.
One of the major problems that led to the declining popularity of WinMX was the increased presence of "dummy" files, reportedly placed by individuals and/or companies opposed to file sharing. In many cases, one could see a desired file, but could not download it since most of the listed selections were inaccessible. As a result, it took additional effort to find the available downloads from within the list, although with practice, this was easily done.
During March 2005, the NPD Group found that WinMX was used in more US households than any other P2P client or legal music downloading service *, although this claim is disputed.
On September 13, 2005, Frontcode Technologies received a cease and desist letter from the RIAA asking them to implement filters to make it impossible for users to download copyrighted material from WinMX, or shut down. Under the threat of litigation, on September 21, 2005 the network and the WinMX homepage were confirmed offline.
By September 25, 2005, users were able to download a working software patch for WinMX from two websites known as WinMX Group and Vladd44 [http://www.vladd44.com/mx/. These patches work by modifying the DNS lookup WinMX uses to find peer caches. When WinMX tries to find the FrontCode peer caches (central servers essential for the operation of WinMX), it is instead directed to look up one of the new peer caches set up by the WinMX community. The WinMX Group patch also includes a filter against fake files which are frequently shared by disruptive interest groups and media companies using software such as Macrovision Hawkeye.
File sharing programs | File sharing networks Windows-only software
WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX | WinMX
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the "WinMX".
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