Hey 222: This is a new (to me) method of dramatically slowing down your LW p2p service, unless it is a LW glitch (unlikely). So don't think your upgrade to newer LW is the problem; likely a coincidence. Strictly speaking, it is NOT 'Bandwidth Throttling', where your ISProvider uses a sophisticated program to monitor and detect when you are online using a p2p application. This program then, for example, 'throttles' or chokes the 625KBytes/sec d'load you have signed up for, to say 62KB/s, a mere 10% of what you are paying for. Less common, are ISPs that 'throttle' your p2p uploads, and some do both, up & down. This is very common in the internet provider industry, where they politely refer to it as 'traffic shaping', and in last few years has turned into an epidemic; a virtual war against their own clients, so they don't have to buy more big chunks of expensive extra bandwidth, preserving profits. And if you call about this problem, few ISP's will admit it, foisting you off with excuses like heavy traffic or your long distance from the server node.

However, the massive and exact same number of hits on every file within a few minutes is NEW, and I strongly suspect is coming from companies hired by the record & movie industry, not your ISP. The various industry associations have been fighting a serious protracted battle against p2p for years, and this is likely the latest in a barrage of weapons they use, from salting sharing apps with tons of fake files, to attempting to fiddle with your Internet port.

My guess above may be wrong, but in two recent posts have asked for response and guidance from monitors or senior members. I did not get a single reply to either post from all the people who keep LW as good a p2p app as is possible. Perhaps they know there is no known defense against this, so don't bother to reply. Or, like Social Security, it is part of the 'third rail' of the p2p world, and they are reluctant to reply to anything that involves the extremely important battle to keep the Internet free of controls like these, that completely undermine the prime principle of this wonderful tool of communication.

Anyway, we all trundle along in the midst of this largely hidden and vital battle, and hope the senior people at LimeWire will have the courtesy to at least reply to important questions from average users.

Best of Luck, caseybob