Why'd Brilliant Do It
AnchorDesk has a follow up story on the Brilliant software installed underneath Kazaa that was mentioned a few days back. I also tracked down some good information on exactly what Brilliant is up to from their Annual Report; and Brilliant has some explanations here and here about it. My favorite is when they claim that Altnet will never use your PC's resources without your express acceptance and acknowledgement. Yeah, just like the express acceptance that they got from us to install the software in the first place - somehow, that statement leaves me wanting more. David Coursey asks some good questions of Brilliant (unanswered as of yet):
[1] You added your user agreement to Kazaa's--so thousands, if not millions, of users have already agreed (in many cases unwittingly) to let you use their computers. Why did you choose this clandestine method of licensing? [2] Many of the agreements between users and their ISPs prohibit servers, file-swapping services, and sharing Internet connections. Couldn't the Brilliant network cause people to violate these agreements?
Good questions, but I wish he'd have asked Kazaa why they thought slipping in Brilliant software to their install was a good idea.
UPDATE: You can remove the Brilliant software and still keep Kazaa running - although why you'd continue to trust Kazaa I don't know. And be wary of upgrading, because I'm sure the Brilliant crap will get put right back on your machine.
[1] You added your user agreement to Kazaa's--so thousands, if not millions, of users have already agreed (in many cases unwittingly) to let you use their computers. Why did you choose this clandestine method of licensing? [2] Many of the agreements between users and their ISPs prohibit servers, file-swapping services, and sharing Internet connections. Couldn't the Brilliant network cause people to violate these agreements?
Good questions, but I wish he'd have asked Kazaa why they thought slipping in Brilliant software to their install was a good idea.
UPDATE: You can remove the Brilliant software and still keep Kazaa running - although why you'd continue to trust Kazaa I don't know. And be wary of upgrading, because I'm sure the Brilliant crap will get put right back on your machine.
# | April 05, 2002