Enterprise cloud file sharing company Accellion has raised $12 million in a new Series 3 round from private equity firm Riverwood Capital. The company will use the additional funding to accelerate growth, invest in enterprise mobile file sharing products, pursue partnerships and international expansion.

Founded in 1999, Accellion’s cloud-based solutions span public, private and hybrid cloud deployment, for secure, any device access to information while providing enterprise security and compliance. The company’s file-sharing solutions are available to users from the Web, iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry devices.

CEO Yorgen Edholm says 2011 was a profitable year with record revenue – something he credits, in part, to the adoption of consumer-grade technologies in the enterprise.

“The adoption of iPads and the resultant use of unmanaged ‘dropbox-type’ applications are creating real security and compliance issues for organizations. Smart companies, proactively meeting the challenge and looking for a solution for secure, mobile access to enterprise content, are fueling our rapid growth.”

Riverwood Capital joins Baring Private Equity Partners Asia as key investors in Accellion.

Atomico, the venture capital firm founded by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, has invested 350,000 euros in Denmark-based Ge.tt, which offers an eponymous Web-based file sharing service.

Ge.tt is simple, clean, and useful. Like many file-sharing services, Ge.tt makes it easy for people to shoot files to the cloud so they can be shared with others, all from a browser-based application.

Read more at TechCrunch Europe.

If you’re familiar with Usenet, you’ll be well aware that the newsreading platform is, well, not longer about newsreading. In fact, most Usenet providers are, by necessity, experienced data storage providers. That being said, Golden Frog has just announced DumpTruck, a WebDAV file-sharing resource that, in the wrong hands, could end up a SOPA target.

The service lets you store data in the cloud. It’s free for holders of “Diamond” Giganews Usenet accounts and costs $99 for a full terabyte of monthly storage. DumpTruck promises anonymous, worry-free storage with, interestingly, no data reduplication. This means DumpTruck won’t compare your files with other files and save only one copy. Your folder is your folder, no matter how full.

The service also offers full 256-bit encryption and single provider storage, a must if you’re, well, serious about security?

This is an interesting move for Golden Frog, for obvious reasons. Although Usenet is still a popular news service, the real value is what not a lot of people talk about: the file sharing system built into the protocol. Usenet providers could, in the future, face a fairly big backlash and they need to be ready, which leads them to the prospect of secure, inexpensive storage based on servers they already own.

The service is live now and you get 5GB free with any Giganews account.

Product Page

YouSendIt, a cloud collaboration company that got its start long before “cloud” was cool, is today launching new mobile applications for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices, plus new Mac (beta) and PC desktop clients. The suite of apps will allow users to securely sync files across devices, while also offering unlimited storage.

YouSendIt’s primary value originally came from providing a service that mainly appealed to behind-the-firewall customers who were unable to send large files via email due to Microsoft Exchange limitations. As software developed, for internal corporate I.T. customers and consumers alike, sharing via email became less of a hassle. Attaching a dozen photos to an email, while not the most efficient way to share, is no longer going to guarantee you a bounced email in return.

Plus, there are a number of alternatives to email-based file sharing, especially for consumers, thanks to the rise of social networking services like Facebook, mobile apps, and even good ol’ MMS. That said, consumers have still found value in file storage and syncing services, like Box.net, Dropbox, SugarSync, Syncplicity and others, which serve as easy ways to move both personal and work-related files between an increasing number Internet-connected devices.

With YouSendIt’s refresh, the goal is to now cater to this new breed of file sharers, while differentiating its service via its feature set. One notable feature is YouSendIt’s security, which is a huge focus for the company. YouSendit not only encrypts files during transit (which is common), but also while stored on the company’s servers and on the devices themselves. (Dropbox doesn’t do client-side encryption at this time, meanwhile). Files are locked behind a PIN when on mobile devices, too.

In addition to the file-sharing, folder-sharing and collaboration aspects to the service, YouSendIt also allows users to sign documents (such as contracts) online, something that should appeal to the company’s business users.

YouSendIt now has 23.5 million users in 193 countries. Its service is available as a freemium product, with Pro plans starting at $9.99/month. (Pricing details here). To get started, you can download the YouSendIt desktop apps here and the mobile apps here.

When it comes to files, we love to share. No, we need to share. Thanks to the massive capacities of Gmail and other email services, it’s become remarkably easy to share files.

Of course, most email services limit the size of the file you can share. Gmail’s, for example, is 25 megabytes. But if you want to share a larger file or multiple files — and even want a little privacy in doing so — you have to go elsewhere. As a result of these limitations, many peer-to-peer file-sharing services have popped up in an effort to fill the demand for transferring those hulking files you’ve got lying around.

Unfortunately, most file transfer services tend not to be particularly user friendly. They have awful UIs that can be difficult for the uninitiated to maneuver, test your patience with wait times, employ captcha guards, and can require sender and receiver to download the same software. There are plenty of apps out there that work towards finding a way around these problems and sites like WeTransfer and senduit offer the ability to share big files easily without the hassle and clunky interface — for free.

But even these services have size limits and haven’t really put all questions of security to rest. So, launching today, is Sendoid, a Y Combinator-backed startup that is aiming to become the last file transfer service you’ll ever use. Besides BitTorrent, of course.

Sendoid is a peer-to-peer and browser-based service, so the startup is betting that peer-to-peer sharing will mean faster transfer times than if you were to use a service that transfers via a central server — and that being browser-based will make you happy because there’s no software to install.

The in-browser sharing works by opening a 128-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encrypted pipe directly between the sending and receiving machines. Sendoid handles the connection to a peer introduction service, but all the data flows direct.

When it comes to sharing videos, music files, or photos, many people simply take to sharing links. Sendoid recognizes this trend and makes it so that, if you want to send a file, all you have to do is go to sendoid.com and select the file you want to transfer from your computer. It will then provide you with a URL, which you can send to the recipient to download. As long as the recipient is online, he or she can then open the link and begin download. Bada bing, bada boom.

Now, when I said that Sendoid doesn’t require you to download any software, that’s not totally true. Within the in-browser experience, Sendoid limits file size based on system resources (generally somewhere between 600MB to 1GB depending on the user’s configuration). If you exceed these limits, you will be prompted to download and use its desktop app. Sendoid remains free and speedy once you download the app, and you no longer have any limitations on the size of file you can transfer.

Most of the file transfer services out there are cloud-storage sites being used for file transfer or web-based bit torrent clients — and they don’t always require a password — so your files are stored on external servers. Because Sendoid is a link-based service, your files are only passed directly between parties, so you won’t have to worry about who’s touching the data on its way.

So, if you’re sending a large file to someone on a machine 5 feet away from you on the same network, you’re going to get much faster transfer speeds. According to Sendoid Co-Founder John Egan, Sendoid can transfer a 100MB file in approximately 35 seconds, versus the 25 to 30 minutes it might take a server-based service.

Partial uploads presently work desktop to desktop only, which includes a resume and restart function, regardless of which side disconnects. Adding this functionality for the web-based version is coming soon, Egan said.

Egan and his partner, Zac Morris, are both engineers and have been working on Sendoid for the last year. They created Sendoid, he said, because they were living on opposite coasts, working on a few other projects (Morris is a former Apple engineer), and had to constantly move large sensitive data back and forth (files larger than 500MB). They were unable to find any other services that opened an instant, direct connection and didn’t want to pay Yousendit $10 to transfer a single file larger than 100MB.

The earliest prototype of Sendoid, Egan told me, was a site called iSendr that they created in May of last year to test out the p2p technology. The prototype drew nearly 20K visitors on the first day and pushed them to apply to Y Combinator.

So how will Sendoid make money? Egan said that the business model will supplement free, unlimited transfers with premium services. Since you can send files “out-of-network” with Sendoid, Egan sees the service being particularly useful to film studios, enabling them to move raw media to post production, or to pharmaceutical companies to transfer confidential data within the company. Of course, these companies would require additional security controls and auditing beyond what Sendoid currently offers, so they would be required to pay for these added features.

Egan also said that they are looking to build a “premium groups” feature for intra-group sharing, where users can browse live shares from others in a realtime, collaborative environment.

Sendoid is currently in the midst of raising its first angel round and is working on apps for both iOS and Android.

It’s a cool service and, from my experience thus far, is quick and easy. So check it out.

Update: I think it’s worth pointing out that I am by no means familiar with every file-sharing service out there and no doubt have missed a few, so please chime in via the comment section to share what service you use and find to be the speediest.

Commenters also noted that I did not mention Dropbox, Box.net, or Ge.tt. All three of these companies offer fantastic services and, of the three I personally use Dropbox all the time — for work and personal file sharing. But, rather than debate which is the service to end all services, it’s probably best to see Sendoid as a complement to these file sharing tools. Each of them are, really, cloud-enabled file hosting services that offer sharing, and sync.

Sendoid differs in that it is peer-to-peer direct, so there’s no cloud and no size limit. So, if you take the example of Dropbox, you have a 2GB limitation (for starters), whereas Sendoid allows you to transfer those big 100MB+ files you have on Dropbox directly to another party’s hard drive. Though Dropbox is pretty reliable, services like Sendoid allow you avoid having to rely on the provider to always have their cloud up and running. The person receiving the file can start downloading without having to wait for you to upload and, in terms of transfer speed, it’s really as fast as your and your recipient’s network connections. If you’re working with fast networks, it’s a breeze. So if you need to transfer a big file to a colleague who lives across the country, and need to do it fast and securely, I’d say Sendoid is worth trying.

The ban hammer is about to smash UK file-sharers. Legislation there is set to take effect in April that would, as a last resort, kick illegal file-sharers off the Internet. Very exciting~!

The deal is that the Government, ISPs, and intellectual property owners will work together to kindly remind you that not all forms of file-sharing are on the up and up. If they find you sharing something that you shouldn’t be, you’ll be sent a letter saying, essentially, “please stop.”

You’ll recall this was a hot-button issue during that Digital Britain debate.

That’s phase one. Authorities will check back one year later to see if the letters were effective in stopping illegal file-sharing. If it’s determined that the letters haven’t cut the piracy rate by 70 percent (man, set a high bar much?) then out comes the ban hammer.

You’ll then receive up to two “please stop” letters before you’re disconnected from your ISP.

All well and good, but wait till Brussels hears about this. Appeal, appeal, delay, appeal.

Oh, again. There’s another push to disconnect illegal file-sharers from the Internet. This time it’s happening in the UK, where people from the likes of the UK Film Council say file-sharing is costing people jobs and threatening the film industry. Because making movies is soooo damn important, right? How would we live and flourish as a civilization without 17 Again?

Simply put, it’s the same song and dance. An alliance of UK creative types (well, the suits at the agencies that are said to represent the actual creative types) is complaining to the Government, demanding action. One such way to obtain justice: kick people off the Internet, something the EU has already said no to. Don’t mess with Brussels.

I don’t know, go ahead and kick me off the Internet for all I care. I don’t use it for anything important anyway. Believe it or not, my respiratory system will continue to function without access to YouTube or Usenet.

Thank you, Penny-Arcade, for reminding us all of what we’d be missing if disconnected from the Internet.

Quick Version: Sometimes e-mailing files to yourself or dumping stuff onto a USB drive gets old. Kensington’s plug-and-play USB cable makes sharing files between two computers stupidly easy. If you’ve used a USB port before, you’re pretty much set.

Overview and Features:

• No software. Just plug the cable into each computer and you’re up and running.
• Simple drag-and-drop interface, or you can open files directly.
• Option to make files read-only for security purposes.
• Works with PC and/or Mac.
• MSRP of $59.99 (Amazon has it for $53.89 and a $15 mail-in rebate until 12/17/08)

It’s pretty simple, really. You plug one end of the cable into a USB port on your first PC and plug the other end of the cable into a USB port on your second PC.

After that’s done, a window like the one shown above appears on both machines. Simply drag and drop files between “THIS COMPUTER” and “CONNECTED COMPUTER” and you’re all set. You can also just double click a file from your connected computer and it’ll open up on the computer you’re using. It works equally well with Macs, too. I had a Sony VAIO and a MacBook swapping files with the greatest of ease.

It’s good for…

…service technicians, temporary computer setups, people who need to share files with others quickly, and people who use two computers and want to push and pull files from both machines without dealing with network settings.

Not so good for…

…people who don’t want to spend $60 just to drag and drop files between two computers. What the cable does isn’t rocket science, it just does it quickly and painlessly, which may or may not be worth $60 to you.

Recommendation

If you think you’d use something like this, go ahead and buy it. I used to do tech support and this would have been a great thing to have in my bag for quick file transfers between my laptop and a client’s machine. I could also see value in having a couple of these cables when Team CrunchGear is covering a big show like CES and we need to quickly toss files back and forth at the end of the day.

Media Sharing Cable for PC and Mac [Kensington]

According to a report in the Washington Post, the five-member panel will formally vote this Friday, although three of the five members have said that they’ll vote against Comcast. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin “is not expected to fine Comcast, according to industry insiders and members of the FCC who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the ruling is still pending.”

The ruling is expected to set precedent for future complaints. Roger Entner of IAG Research says, "This is a slap on the wrist for Comcast, but it will be a cutting off of the hand for the next provider who violates rules." It’s important to note that the throttling BitTorrent connections isn’t the issue at hand, it’s that throttling connections without making it clear to your customers is the problem. So the practice can, and likely will, continue. It’ll just need to be much more transparent in the future.

All of you with a jailbroken iPhone should check out iSlsk (it’s on Big Boss), an application that connects your little wonderdevice to the SoulSeek file-sharing network. SoulSeek, for the uninitiated, has plenty of rare music files from which to choose; all types of files can be found on there, but music is definitely its forté.

While you can’t upload files using the application yet, it can download files—to /var/mobile/Media/Downloads—just fine. Not having an iPhone, jailbroken or otherwise, I can’t try it, but the above video looks just great. Just great!

[On a completely unrelated and off-topic note, comedian Bill Burr turns 40 on June 10 and he needs our help. His podcast, he says, only has 15 listeners. If the number of listeners cracks 20, he'll be much the happier. Do him a favor and subscribe. The man isn't too bright; he moved out to Los Angeles looking to "make it" in the midst of the writers strike. The language isn't SFW, obvs, but he's pretty good, I think.]

via TorrentFreak

Verizon created the “P4P Working Group” with file-sharing company Pando Networks and developed a system which more or less favors P2P connections between geographically-close users on the Verizon network over connections to random users and networks in far-away lands.

According to the Associated Press,

In a traditional P2P network, if a Verizon customer downloads a file, only 6.3 percent of the data will come from another Verizon customer in the same city, said Doug Pasko, senior technologist at the company. In the “P4P” trial, 58 percent of the data came from nearby Verizon users, vastly reducing the company’s cost of carrying the traffic.

[Pando CEO Robert] Levitan said the technology might be ready for use by next month, when NBC makes available free downloads of its TV shows using Pando’s software. The shows will be financed by advertising, and P2P technology will be an essential way for NBC to cut costs. Distributing an hourlong TV show in high definition using traditional delivery systems would cost the network about $1. With P2P technology, that cost can be cut by 75 to 90 percent.

A big potential shortcoming is the fact that this only works with legal P2P file sharing. Verizon would be crazy to embrace illegal sharing but you’ve gotta wonder how much P2P traffic is sucked up by illegal networks versus legal ones. Secondly, this works well on a network like Verizon’s where users don’t split bandwidth with all their neighbors in the same way as cable-based networks.

A problem the “P4P” system does not address is that file-sharing software makes extensive use of a customer’s connection, both for uploads and downloads. This is not much a problem for phone companies like Verizon, but it is for cable companies, where up to 500 households share capacity on the local coaxial cable.

Still, though, it’s a step in the right direction and shows some forward-thinking on Verizon’s part. It’s capable of saving the company substantial amounts of money while allowing users to enjoy faster downloads.

Verizon Gets Cozy With P2P File-Sharers: Financial News [AP/Yahoo! News]

There are swear words in this video. Surprise.

Among other things, like running New York and making money off flavored water, 50 Cent understands what it’s like to have to steal to survive. To that end, he doesn’t fault young music fans for downloading music. In fact, in a recent interview in Oslo (a hip-hop haven), the P.I.M.P. said “a young fan may be just as devout and dedicated no matter if he bought it or stole it.”

Mr. Cent also scolded the suits in the music industry, saying “what is important for the music industry to understand is that this really doesn’t hurt the artists.”

Look at that, not only is Curtis “OK” with file sharing, but he, too, knows that the RIAA’s “starving artist” yarn is fake fake fake. Look at him: he get[s] money, even with rampant file sharing.

50 Cent: File-Sharing Doesn’t Hurt Artists, Industry Should Adapt [TorrentFreak]

Erica from TUAW got Bonjour up and running on her iPhone and iPod touch. At this point it’s really just a proof of concept—all it can do is send pictures from the iPhone to the Touch—so it’s yet another example of doing something for the sake of it.

That’s right now, at least. In the future, with a little more tinkering, Erica says it could be possible to use the iPhone-Touch tandem as a complete Bonjour solution, sending different types of files back and forth. She sees the possibilities for “social computing” are endless.

MDNS and caffeine: How I got Bonjour running on my iPhone [TUAW]

Last week, Jammie Thomas was found guilty of copyright infringement and was ordered to pay $222,000 in fines for sharing MP3s. As a mother and working class citizen like most of us, she most likely cannot afford to pay such a ridiculous amount of money. So, she’s using our justice system to fight back; this time, with an appeal.

Thomas argues that the amount of damages ordered to paid is unconstitutionally excessive. In other cases, payouts as low as $1 a song have been handed down by a judge, so why not her? Hell, she could go out and buy the full CD containing each song she pirated for less than $1000. The RIAA is trying to make an example out of this lady and for the most part, it’s working. If you want to peer deeper into the rabbit hole, check out the Ars link below.

Appeal in RIAA case to focus on “unconstitutionally excessive” punishment [Ars Technica]

Recently, an article was published in a monthly newsletter at Harvard Law called “Universities to RIAA: Take a Hike.” If the title isn’t a complete giveaway, the article details how the RIAA is bullying students in college into lawsuits for file-sharing. Harvard feels that a university’s duty is to follow its own mission, not to cater as messenger for the messenger to the RIAA and I couldn’t agree more. Says the article:

The university strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities. The university has no legal obligation to deliver the RIAA’s messages. It should do so only if it believes that’s consonant with the university’s mission. We believe it is not.

Universities are special places, set off in time and space for students to have an opportunity most will not again have: to learn together in a community that cherishes openness above all else. If the university is perceived as doing the bidding of any particular industry, the message we’re sending to students is that the university is willing to let commercial interests intrude.

Strong words. Glad that one of the most prestigious universities in the world realizes that strong-arming students into payments and settlements is not right. When you go off to college, you should be learning, not worrying about a lawsuit for months during your finals. Perhaps now the RIAA will lay low for a bit while it ducks out of the limelight.

Harvard Law: ‘Universities Should Tell the RIAA to Take a Hike’ [ZeroPaid]

Piracy is an action sport. The ability to infringe copyright and steal valuable work induces a rush like no other. Whether you steal music, movies, books, applications, or whatever, it feels like breaking the law and it saves our wallets and purses from becoming empty. But not everyone is as fortunate as we are to know the ins and outs of the world of piracy. There’s so much to take in and only so much time for us to Google around for the answers to our questions. Luckily, you have a master pirate on deck to help you with understanding the basics that will get you downloading Spiderman 3 in no time.

For this Help Key, I’m going to break it down into a few separate sections. This will allow you to skip to the section relevant to you and will also allow us to discuss topics in an organized matter. Ok. Computer on? Let’s get started.

Understanding Piracy

Piracy is a vast underworld of skilled, ninja-like hackers who blow up mainframe computers for profit. Actually, this is a complete lie, but the underworld part has some truth to it. There are two types of people/groups releasing movies, music, and everything else to the general public. There is the individual pirate who is on their own and perhaps decided one day to sneak a camcorder into the 11:35am showing of Happy Feet. He will go home, rip the video from his camcorder, encode it in a proper format, usually in the XviD codec, and will upload it to either a server or his peers. Some would call “casual piracy.” Nothing too huge and the pirate keeps to himself mostly. Your casual pirate could also be a top-tier uploader as well, someone who sends file after file to sharing sites in order to improve their ratio so they can download other files.

Then there is The Scene. According to Wikipedia, The Scene is a term used to refer to a collection of communities of pirate networks that obtain and copy new movies, music, and games, often before their public release, and distribute them throughout the Internet (and previously through BBSes). A pretty solid description there and accurate as well. Scene groups work together over the Internet to put together “releases” which are then mass-distributed over networks such as IRC, Forums, Bit Torrent trackers, and so on.

So why do these people pirate? Who knows. It could be the thrill, it could be boredom or millions of other reasons. With the rise of DRM (Digital Rights Management) limiting the use of what we can do with something we already paid for, many people are turning to piracy as a way to free their data from the chains of DRM. After all, why the hell should I have to pay $15 for a Rage Against The Machine CD I lost back in 1997? I already bought it, I’m just re-downloading it because the CD can’t be found. Which brings us to our next topic…

Ways To Pirate Movies/Music/Software

If it’s a digital file, you can pirate it. But the sake of my fingers and your eyes, I’m going to stick to the top three pirated filetypes: music, movies, and software. This is a guide on how to pirate properly with specific applications. If you don’t know about some of these applications or methods used below, just search for them in Google and something informative is bound to come up.

As of right now, I’d say the best possible way to pirate something is through Bit Torrent. Using .torrent files and an application called a client, we can download files from other people using a tracker. A tracker coordinates the transferring of files among peers. All you need to know is that there are two kinds of trackers: public and private. Download from a public one such as Mininova, The Pirate Bay, or ISO Hunt, and you may find yourself getting sued by the MPAA or RIAA down the road. This may or may not happen and it’s all about being careful.

Public trackers are good for two things: learning how to use Bit Torrent properly and getting the occasional file we can’t find on a private tracker. The other day I wanted to watch a specific movie I couldn’t find on a private site. I went to Mininova, grabbed the torrent, and downloaded it. No big deal. I probably won’t get caught. I just know I should only use public trackers when all else fails. A lot of older movies are available on public trackers, so feel free to use them at your own risk.

On to private trackers. Private trackers are a part of invite-only or closed community Bit Torrent sites. I’m not going to name any specific sites here, but these sites require knowing someone who has an invite and asking them for one. Once you’re invited, you are expected to keep a certain ratio. This means for every gigabyte you download, you should upload as well. This keeps everyone on the site happy and allows for super-fast, safe downloads of content you’d otherwise spend hours downloading off a public tracker. So if you download an album off a music site that is 120MB, be sure to keep your torrent client open until you’ve uploaded 120MB or more.

The advantage to these invite-only sites is just that. It’s invite-only. This means the MPAA or RIAA or FBI can’t automatically sign up, upload a torrent, and track you. This ensures everyone’s safety and also keeps the idiots away who come to leech off fair users like myself. You’ll notice that private sites also tend to have a greater library of content and of better quality. Looking for the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie? It’ll hit the private trackers before the public ones, which again, is another advantage.

So now you’ve got the basics of Bit Torrent sites down. This method costs us no money, is the fastest free way to pirate, and can also save our asses from getting caught. But perhaps Bit Torrent is too hard for you to grasp or you can’t forward ports on your router properly due to limitations. Then what do you do? Use an alternative method of pirating. Duh.

Methods of Pirating

You can use multiple methods to get the same Rod Stewart albums you’ve been wanting for years. Here are some methods that will help you unleash your inner pirate:

Traditional P2P Applications (Kazaa, Limewire, etc.)

This is where your old pal Napster would fall in. Kazaa, Limewire, BearShare, whatever your poison is, these are all peer-to-peer applications that allow the sharing of files from one user to another. I personally keep Limewire around for times I need one specific song or a rare file. You can get caught on these still, but the chance is minimal as long as you keep your pirating to the obscure and hard-to-find items. Even getting one or five Beatles songs won’t hurt you. The downside is that a lot of viruses hang out on P2P networks. If you use a Mac, no biggie. But Windows users are probably better off just skipping P2P altogether or using it very cautiously.

Bit Torrent

Again, as we discussed above, this is currently one of the most popular ways to share files. You help share the file as you’re downloading it and after it’s downloaded. Everyone else does the same. It works out like a big, happy, sharing family. I already went into detail about trackers above, so I’ll recommend some applications to use for Bit Torrenting since some are actually banned on private trackers.

If you use Mac OS X, I recommend Bit Rocket. It’s pretty much the only stable, fast client with an aqua GUI and it’s easy to use. Windows users should definitely use uTorrent, which is by far the most robust torrenting software available for the OS. If all else fails, you’re in a pinch, or use another operating system, there’s always Azureus. Azureus is a huge, highly configurable Bit Torrent client written in Java. It will always work and will always get the job done, but on Mac OS X especially, it’s one slow application. Use Azureus if other clients start messing up or if you’re clueless about Bit Torrent in general.

Usenet

Usenet is an old global Internet discussion system that can be used to share files. It’s the fastest way to get your download on, requires no uploading, and a lot of stuff appears here first. However, Usenet isn’t entirely free. Your ISP may give you Usenet access, but most people end up paying a monthly fee to a third party like GigaNews for unlimited access. You can use a Usenet client for your OS to connect to a server which you’ll then download files off of. It’s also not the easiest method to rush into and requires a bit of reading and learning before you use it.

File Transfers

Have an AIM account? Does your friend? Great. Start up your AIM client, IM your friend, initiate a file transfer and presto, you’re now a pirate. Yup. You can use your favorite IM program to send huge files between two people. Easy, free, and you won’t be caught. Recommended for the casual pirate who plans on sharing a file or set of files once or twice tops.

Streamload/MediaMax

MediaMax is an online storage locker where you upload files to the company’s servers. You pay a monthly fee for a set amount of data to be downloaded (10GB for example) and once you’ve pirated that amount, you’re done. You can upload all you please and the company has a blatant disregard for anything copyrighted. I gave out my account to some people on private Bit Torrent forums and I’ve seen some cool stuff uploaded. The new Bjork album, Batman Begins, and plenty of other treats. Check MediaMax.com out and see how you feel about it.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. You basically connect to a server, go into a chat room, and start browsing through people’s material. When you find something you like, you type in a command and start downloading it. You may get lucky and can start downloading right away. Half the time though, you’ll get caught in a queue, which essentially means you’ll have to wait for people in front of you to finish downloading before you can start. IRC isn’t as popular as other methods, but it’s generally safe and packed with good finds, especially movies and software.

One of the best IRC clients for Windows is mIRC, while OS X users tend to use Chax or Talk. Personally, I use Colloquy on OS X and find it to be the best client to date I’ve used. Linux users can use the 100,220,393,292 clients people have built for themselves.

Burning CDs and DVDs

Get some software, ask your friends what they want, and make copies. You can make some lunch money doing this or you can be a good pirate or just do it for the sake of freeing media. DVD-Rs are a steal nowadays. This is an easy, safe method that’s perfect for friends wanting to share movies and CDs.

Releasing Materials

So you’ve downloaded a few copies of newly released movies and the excitement is kicking in. You love this. You want to help out and contribute. How can you? Easy. Go through your CD and DVD collection and see what isn’t publicly or privately available and start ripping. A good collection of tools for a pirate to have can include CD or DVD ripping software, video and audio encoding software, compression software, video and audio converters, file converters, and lots more. Just do a Google search for “CD ripper windows” or “audio encoder OS X” to get the appz you need. If they cost money, just pirate them.

Once you’ve got the end result, let’s say a ripped DVD movie, you’ll need to make two kinds of files to be a legit/respectable pirate of the Internet. Include a .NFO file with information about the file you’re offering. It may also have some ASCII artwork. Here’s an example of what you might find inside a .NFO file:

Movie length: 1:45:03
Sound codec: AC3
Video codec: XviD 1.02
Encoded by: handlegoeshere

See all that useful info? Be sure to include it in your release! For more on NFO files, check this link out.

We’re not done though! I said two files should be included along with your release. The second is a .SFV file. Not everyone will use this, but it’s good to have. SFV stands for Simple File Verification. As the name implies, it verifies that the files downloaded are not corrupted or the wrong ones. If the hash check doesn’t work out, you may have a corrupted file, a malicious file added in to your download, or some kind of tracker or watermark an organization has added in. This step is up to you, but generally it’s a good idea. You can learn more about Simple File Verification here.

When all your files are finished, throw them in a properly labeled folder, include any artwork related to your release, and upload it to the internet. If you’re using Bit Torrent, creatie a torrent using a tracker (a freely available public one or a private one) and start seeding the files. If you’re on P2P, just throw it in a .zip file and put it in your “Shared” directory. Using MediaMax? Just upload the folder. Voila. You’ve now released something into the wild and if caught and prosecuted, you’ll be paying all kinds of fines.

Oh yeah. It probably goes without saying, but don’t use your real name when uploading files. Pick a handle that’s not related to you in any way at all. For example, “DallasGuy1982″ is not a good handle. I know you’re from Dallas and were probably born in 1982. This narrows down the FBI’s search when they trace your IP address for uploading files to The Pirate Bay. Pick something funny, strange, or obscure. “ReeferMan” or “Gh0st R1d3R” are good choices, albeit cheesy.

Not Getting Caught

As you probably guessed, piracy is illegal. Getting caught can land you some serious fines or even jail-time depending on the offense. Those of you in college should probably stay the hell away from piracy. I personally know about three people who have been caught downloading via Bit Torrent or P2P. The only safe way to pirate is to not do it at all. There will always be a chance that you can get caught, whether it’s the MPAA poisoning a torrent, the FBI giving a plea bargain to your best friend who got caught 2 weeks ago, or one of thousands of other ways.

So how do you protect yourself? Download from private servers and torrent sites. Using public trackers and P2P is like announcing to the world “Hey! Look at me! I’m pirating!” Stay away from anything public related and download in moderation. Scooping up 2TB of files in a week will make you stick out like a sore thumb.

Going to college this fall? Great. Leave the pirating for CD-Rs and AIM. Your college may have a lot of bandwidth to spare, but that bandwidth is being monitored and trust me: the RIAA or MPAA will eventually catch you throughout the next four years of your life. Just read the news and you’ll see how many kids are getting screwed over for $3000 to $6000 for downloading some songs.

Also, don’t brag. You know how the bank robbers always end up getting caught in every movie, right? They start bragging to everyone about what they did and how much they made out with. Telling a friend or two about how you snuck a camera into March of the Penguins and leaked it is generally OK, but don’t start posting shit on forums. Now you’re just asking for it. This is why using a handle is an added layer of protection. Even if they trace a release back to “HornyDude”, they still might not be able to find out who he is. Plus, “HornyDude” will look great on the Federal subpoena.

Well we’re done. Hopefully by now you’ve learned some essential tips to keep you out of trouble and to help you pirate more efficiently. Just remember that it’s not what you pirate, it’s how you do it.

Disclaimer: This guide is for informational purposes only and should not be used to actually pirate. Any reference to myself or anyone else is purely fictional. I don’t pirate, I bought all 100GB of music on my iTunes library legally, yo.

Piracy is on the rise at colleges and universities around the world, but one school in Poland must have taken it too far. On Wednesday, Police raided Koszalin University of Technology due to the massive amount of pirating going on. What they found was far beyond a kid’s homemade server. The feds seized a PC running DC++ hub software, 10 laptops, and 60 hard drives, which contained over 35,000GB (you read that correctly, sir) of media available for students to download.

Three students who had administrative access to the servers were taken into custody and will most likely have several charges brought against them. The report says students were using DirectConnect P2P software to share tons of movies, music, and software. I know plenty of people who have gotten busted on campus for file-sharing, so if you’re pirating quite a bit at your school and you’re using DirectConnect, may we suggest quitting for a while? It might just save your ass.

Please note: we went through this entire post without one Polish joke. Thank you.

Police Raid University, Dismantle P2P Network [TorrentFreak]

Since I’m not Canadian, I’m a little out of the loop on what Rogers has been up to. According to TorrentFreak, the ISP banned BitTorrent traffic due to excessive bandwidth consumption. Enter encryption and for the next year, everyone is safe. Now in an effort to curb encrypted Bit Torrent traffic, Rogers has started to throttle all encrypted transfers. That means your secure e-mail, login, and everything in between are all screwed and there’s nothing you can do about it except complaining directly to Rogers.

TorrentFreak also points out that Rogers’ slogan is still “for sharing large files and much more.” Now I’m chuckling heartedly on the inside right now and really hope you are as well. Call Rogers today and tell them you don’t want your encrypted traffic being shifted around and blocked!

Rogers Fights BitTorrent by Throttling All Encrypted Transfers [TorrentFreak]

I realize this might be hard to fathom, but guess what? The RIAA still sucks and is still wasting everyone’s time with file-sharing lawsuits. In fact, the RIAA apparently wasted too much time with the University of Nebraska and now the school is hitting back. U of N has sent the RIAA an invoice to the RIAA requesting that it reimburse the university for all the expenses it’s incurred from dealing with the RIAA’s outlandish requests for student information.

Way to stick it to the man! If every school had a little chutzpah and stood up to the big bully known as the RIAA, maybe we’d start seeing more P2P cases dissipate into nothing. After the jump, see the above comic in all it’s glory.

RIAA University Campaign Sputters: Group Asked To Pay Up For Wasting School’s Time [Techdirt via Boing Boing]

We all know by now that the Zune is certainly not the hottest DAP on the market. But after dealing with Microsoft and their “points” system and the crappy music store for Zune, we’re finding out that some of the songs you may have bought can’t be shared with other Zunes—not that you’d find another one near you anyways.

The culprits? Sony and Universal. They’ve made a select choosing of certain artists they don’t want shared between Zunes. Who’s affected? Check it:

Universal Music Group
• Prohibited Zune Sharing: Gwen Stefani, Snow Patrol, Eminem, Blue October, JoJo, Jay-Z;
• Accepted Zune Sharing: Nickelback, Nelly Furtado and Maria Careh;
Sony Music
• Prohibited Zune Sharing: Beyonce, Weird Al Yankovic (not sure if song is from Sony) and Ciara;
• Accepted Zune Sharing: Shakira, Wyclef Jean, The Fray, Christina Aguilera, John Mayer and Brad Paisley;

Keep in mind, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many more artists are included and DRM restrictions are getting tighter. If you like a CD a lot, just go buy the hard copy so you can do what you want with it. Otherwise, you risk getting shafted.

Universal and Sony Don’t Like Zune to Zune Sharing [ClicZune]