I had to laugh when I went to the MSNBC site. The link was already dead but there was an article on thousands of people sharing copywrited needlework patterns on the net. Oh those d#mn grandmothers and soccer moms, have they no respect for the publishers?

Seriously though, if you are concerned about it but want to continue sharing you may want to give FreeNet a try. There may be some naysayers who claim it is buggy and difficult to use but it is really quite easy. The project website could use a major overhaul though, which may be a source of frustration to some.

To run it you'll first need to install the Java Run Time Environment which can be downloaded here...

http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/jre/

Next download and install the set-up file, should be about 1.5Mb. There may be an updated .jar as well, you can download and replace it later...

http://freenetproject.org/snapshots/

When the configuration screen comes up, be sure to allocate enough space for the NodeDataStore file. The default is around 196Mb, change this to whatever size you expect to share. Make sure you select a number you can live with, if you ever have to change it all data within will be lost.

Static cable modem users should select the 24/7 availability option if possible. I wouldn't even attempt to run this on dialup but it is possible. Enter your IP address if it is not already completed and your all set.

If by chance you find yourself unable to connect (you did open the firewall port, right?) you probably need a new seed file. This is an initial list of computers to connect to. You can find the seednode.ref's on the net, in IRC channels, or email and beg members of the support group...

http://lists.freenetproject.org/mail...stinfo/support

There are a few key directories and frost (freenet client) has a search feature to help you find the files you seek.

Have Fun