BearShare 6 is not the original BearShare at all, but a reskin of the universally hated
iMesh which effectively went out of business years ago and started cooperating
with the RIAA. It runs on their own private network, can be censored at any time
(which is probably why you are having problems right now) and even the "free"
music you get from it can be revoked without warning or refund.

In the original BearShare you could reach many many more files with no such
hidden restrictions because it is still compatible with all other gnutella software
and it performs much better overall.

Instant messaging is not so necessary but you could always get a real IM app with
all the trimmings for free anyway.