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FrostWire is an open-source peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program. It uses the Gnutella network and is heavily based on the better-known LimeWire program. It also recently included BitTorrent support.
History
The project was started in September 2005 by members of the LimeWire open-source community, after LimeWire's distributor considered placing "blocking" code which it was developing in response to RIAA pressure and the threat of legal action in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. When eventually activated, the code could block its users from sharing unlicensed files. FrostWire was first released in October 2005.
Location
FrostWire is based outside the United States, possibly to avoid legal liability. In any case, the FrostWire team has stated that they will never use "blocking" code in the program.
Programming Language
As with Limewire, FrostWire is written in Java, and so is capable of supporting multiple platforms. LimeWire is available in both free and paid versions, with FrostWire released only as a free version. The FrostWire program includes all of the free LimeWire version's functionality, plus a few features of LimeWire Pro's fee based upgrade. FrostWire's interface is nearly identical to that of LimeWire's since it's based on the same code base, although the color scheme is slightly different.
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