Something gnutella client developers could not disagree with is damage is caused to the network when users share files when their upload slots are closed. This means search results contain files that cannot be downloaded, giving other users the wrong impression.

My recommendation which should not be difficult to implement, is to set the program to not share/broadcast any files to the network if upload slots are set to zero. Sound like an easy practical solution?

Some persons downloads are automatically shared when their upload slots are set to zero. They either do this out of ignorance or out of an "I do not care" attitude. I have come across users with large shares whom had their upload slots set to zero. Both LimeWire 4 and 5 behaved a little differently when trying to download such files, but something I have learnt to identify. Not to mention seeing such connected users in Phex with large overall multiple MB or GB size of shares but number of files shared being zero. Small size example: 0/4,096.0 KB

So how easy would this be to implement when it's been within the protocol to identify for so many years. Zero slots for sharing should equate to no broadcasting of such files as shares. A simple mistake by the gnutella devs I believe.

In essence, this is the equivalent of one of the spam approaches that has been around for several years now, where files are shared to the network by these spam companies but unable to be downloaded.