Why did BearShare hijack my browser page? Is that one of the "features" of this program? Because that is exactly what happened.

When it all started, my home page was Google. I am running a Firefox browser. After downloading some music from BS, I noticed that my browser home page was no longer Google - now, it was a BearShare homepage. To boot, there was a big, black, McAfee WARNING strip across the top of my home page, telling me that McAfee was blocking access to this potentially dangerous site.

This can't be good, I thought - but no problem; I know how to get back to my Google home page. I navigated to Google and then hit Tools/Options and switched the home page back to Google. However, the next time I activated my browser, there is was - BearShare, complete with the menacing McAfee message.

My browser home page had been hijhacked. So I Googled "Bear Share browser hijack" and immediately saw DOZENS of sites which try to help people who have been victimized by Bear Share's hijacking of their home pages.

I spent HOURS trying to get my home page back and was finally able to do it. But I NEVER want to go anywhere near "Bear Share" again. What is going ON here? It seems that this Forum not only tolerates Bear Share, but actually PROMOTES it. I don't understand that.

Would someome please tell me what's up with this browser hijacking business and why I should even consider doing anything with Bear Share again except perhaps sue it?

You are welcome to sue them, especially since they have nothing to do with the BearShare available here.

BearShare was forcefully taken over by people, who do exactly what you describe above.

I don't understand - and obviously, I really don't. Could you be a little more specific? What is the difference between the BearShare available here and the BearShare that took over my computer?

http://www.gnutellaforums.com/open-d...sabotaged.html

The difference is that once upon a time (in 2006 to be a bit more exact) the record companies started breathing down the developers neck having him install a kill switch. And it all went downhill from there. So everything available here and promoted here is from before that happened.

More here: BearShare - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pretty much you downloaded and installed tea while wanting coffee. Tea took over your browser still claiming to be coffee. Now you blame coffee even though coffee was never in the equation.

The version of BearShare offered at Gnutella forums is the BearShare 5.1 Beta (released before BearShare was sold to MusicLab), almost equivalent to the 5.1 Pro version of that time. This version runs on the Gnutella network, not the iMesh network like the much later MusicLab, LLC versions. The BS 5.1 beta is clean, unlike the MusicLab versions.

From memory, it was the 5.2 version where the kill switch was added. Could verify with a forum search I guess. I think 5.3 was never released, I'd need to confirm with my previous private discussions with File_Girl. Though there was a 5.3 version that had been started to be worked on by the BS developer before BS was sold to MusicLab. I recall seeing a BS version development page.

As for this forum being blocked by some lists, yes that has been a known issue for some years. No idea why, the site is clean. Once listed on some block lists, those blocklist maintainers rarely remove them. Thus their list simply grows & grows larger & larger with lots of innocent victims included.

Feel free to try out the BearShare 5.1 beta, else there's several other gnutella clients you can try. LimeWire (or LW Pirate Edition), FrostWire (similar to LW), Phex, Gtk-Gnutella, Gnucleus, Morpheus, ShareAza, etc. Both Phex and Gtk-Gnutella are gnutella clients still being actively developed. LPE has temporarily gone into hiding with a name-change whilst they get their next version out (no idea when they will release it, could be a while.)

Thanks for that information. But I'm not sure we are talking about the same thing.

My problem concerns the hijacking of my browser home page by BearShare. That has nothing to do with "kill switches" (whatever those are) or an inability to download and/or listen to music.

Why would any program want to antagonize potential customers or site visitors, by hijacking their browser home pages? All that does is antagonize people.

I have heard that record companies and others with an interest in enforcing copyright laws, in an effort to discourage people from going to music downloading (P2P) sites, infiltrated such sites and infected them with viruses, malware, etc. Is there anything to that?

And if that's not the answer, what is? Once again - why would BearShare want to antagonize potential customers by hijacking their browser home pages?

Someone else might know the answer. But some programs do (with or without notification on the program installer) also install junkware. This might be toolbars or something else. When that happens, often the default browser homepage is changed also.

Why is a good question. Sometimes the people who develop the main program receive kickback payments if they include junkware with their program. I refer to such extras as junkware. Adobe got into strife with its users when it included Growl within their CS5 product installer range. Growl Installation with Adobe CS5 « Adobe Installation and Licensing. However they quickly responded on how to remove it due to customer backlash.
The programs that choose to include junkware with their program installer, sometimes notify in the installer these extras will be installed, but not always, such as in Adobe's case. Sometimes it is the default that these junkware will be installed. We pressured FrostWire into at least not having their junkware set as default for installation. We complained they even had junkware with their 4.20 & 4.21 installers. File_Girl produced junkware free versions instead for this forum lol.

Yes, lots of programs include things you don't want and usually don't know about. Quick Time seems to be included in just about everything I download. Google Chrome gets packaged with other programs. Many times they will give you the option of not receiving the added stuff - unchecking a check box usually does it.

But not always. I have heard that if you download the software version of AOL, you will have at least seventeen programs put on your computer without your ever even knowing they are there.

I have had donwloaded programs change my homepage, but never in a way that I wasn't able to fix it with several mouse clicks. It is easy to restore your desired homepage if some program decideds to change it, PROVIDED the change is not a hijack.

A homepage hijack is something else altogether. When a hijack happens, you cannot change your homepage back; you are stuck with the new version. It is possible to get your original homepage back, but you don't ever want to have to do what it takes to get this done. There are Web sites dedicated to helping people through the complicated steps that have to be taken to cure a homepage hijack.

I can understand why progarms would included junkware in their downloads. I can't understand why they would hijack a homepage. All hijacking accomplishes is creating mega tons of anger toward the program that caused it in the first place. If they think they are getting advertising, they should think again. All they are getting is hatred and a guarantee that no one will utilize whatever service they have to offer.

You are quite right in the music industry representatives having something to do with this. imesh and bearshare are RIAA approved legal music download businesses, with some added stuff to help force things down the consumers throat. If interested in a bit of research, then here is a good place to start: iMesh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fuller explanation for Bearshare, a sabotaged ShareAza & other programs explained here The Story: Shareaza, iMesh, RIAA, and Recent Events. No wonder I do not feel inspired to buy Sony products any more with the Sony director a part of the RIAA & of iMesh. I think I read a different article which gave the direct link of Sony to such issues. The Sony director being a part of the iMesh story & of RIAA also, maybe one of the off-shoot links.

On a local point, Sony bought the major record companies here in Australia & sacked most of the older bands despite some of them still being popular. They wanted to shape Australia's music industry how 'they' wanted, dictating how the bands should perform for commercial reasons. Can only buy the older CD albums via either rare publications or via the band setting up their own publications for their music. A manager of a major Australian record store in my city told me one band (a rock blues band) who had been popular for years, now deals directly with the chain store for distribution of their CD albums. He told me one of the bands albums had never dropped out of their top 100 albums sales over 35 years.

Australia's alternative bands now have less chance to succeed. Unless they let themselves be dictated to by the 'commercial' approach of the sony studios. Or use the lesser distributed smaller/minor local record companies with limited distribution abilities. ie: Sony has killed Australia's music identity. They want Australia's music to sound like America. I was previously a musician myself and with studio recording session experience for artists, so I can understand the frustrations of the alternative bands. I enjoyed both playing in & listening to underground bands in my city. They are a breath of fresh air for innovation & musical ideas.