A leading service that attempts to dissuade users from
downloading illegal copies of films and music is closing down
because of a lack of business.
Overpeer targets users of file-sharing networks such as Kazaa,
and tries to put them off from downloading illegal files by
showering file-sharing networks with content that does not deliver
what was promised.
Typically, a user could spend hours downloading a copy of a new
film, and end up with a file containing garbled data.
Overpeer is owned by Loudeye, which only bought the business
last year. It is now closing the firm and is looking to sell its
assets, which includes a huge bank of servers around the world.
The decision by a major Overpeer client to end its use of the
service contributed to the decision to close the service. Another
contributory factor was the availability of tools on file-sharing
networks that allow users to rate files for other users once they
have been downloaded, said Loudeye.
A further factor may have been the spread of ever-fasting
broadband downloading speeds, which means users don’t have to wait
so long to discover miss-leading files, enabling them to move on to
others that may deliver what they want.