Kazaa also turning its life around, becoming legal music subscription service

We must have missed the memo that informed us of the impending revival sweeping the illicit music landscape, but there's no denying its potency now. Just weeks after Napster and Pirate Bay decided to right the wrong and morph into legitimate music subscription services (or something of the sort, anyway), the infamous and all-but-forgotten Kazaa has evidently decided to do the same. According to "sources close to the company," the site is expected to officially exit beta and begin a $20 per month unlimited download service as early as next week, though details beyond that are few and far between. On the surface, it seems as if it'll be shooting itself in the foot from day one by charging a Jackson per month, but hopefully that includes a little something extra that we aren't privy to yet. At any rate, it looks like your illegal acquisition options are slowly dwindling down, but hey, it's not like a little consolidation ever hurt anybody, right?

[KEROLiUKAS @ Jul 19th 2009 1:44AM]

Too late. Kazaa has been abandoned for ages. Viruses, viruses and viruses.

[Meltz @ Jul 19th 2009 2:44AM]

Dude - I got so many viruses from Kazaa! Man, that was back in Jr. High, too

[KEROLiUKAS @ Jul 19th 2009 2:45AM]

iknorite?

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Jul 19th 2009 2:52AM]

Limewire & Morpheus FTW!

[paul34 @ Jul 19th 2009 4:13PM]

Didn't Ares die a long time ago, too? Their network didn't even work last time I tried it... like 6 months ago. And that was just to find a single porn video.

No one uses P2P progs anymore. It's all BT and file hosting services now... and the usenet crowd as well.

What else was there... oh, anyone remember Shareaza I think it was called? good times, good times.

[Mark @ Jul 19th 2009 10:39PM]

But... but... I want to pay 20$/month for something I could get for 15 and I don't want to be able to keep 10 songs/month!

[Jody @ Jul 20th 2009 7:11AM]

I know what you mean. It's amazing how much malware was on that thing! I used to use it for a year or so, then finally, got fed up with it.

Guaranteed KaZaA will do half-decent with sales. Just watch. Not exceptional, but decent.

[ark_v2 @ Jul 20th 2009 12:42PM]

I remember when I used it years ago...
Every log in was like going to Africa with a high sex drive.

[Alienicecooler @ Jul 21st 2009 5:02AM]

ARES did not die it is still active and well, going on to hold on in there for a bit longer maybe. Been using it since 2003 never had a issue with it!!

[Bentley @ Jul 19th 2009 1:45AM]

uhm, napster has been a legitimate paid service for years now.
perhaps you are confused

[Dr. Spaceman @ Jul 19th 2009 1:46AM]

Napster ≠ Kazaa

[Dr. Spaceman @ Jul 19th 2009 1:48AM]

Ah, vote me down. My mistake.

[pete @ Jul 19th 2009 2:21AM]

you spacheman, you were right, kazaa is not the same as napster

[Meltz @ Jul 19th 2009 2:45AM]

Doctor Space-Man!

[jay jay @ Jul 19th 2009 1:46AM]

Holy crap kazaa is still around? i haven't used that since i was in the 6th grade (im a sophomore in college now)

[nintendo fanboy hater @ Jul 19th 2009 4:01AM]

amen

[neofolklore @ Jul 21st 2009 8:45AM]

I can relate to these statements.

But there are many middle-aged men out there that didn't go through so many phases of life as we did in these awkward DMCA infringing times.

[kingofwale @ Jul 19th 2009 1:47AM]

20 dollars a month??? Does it come with free anti-virus program?

[Phantom1219 @ Jul 19th 2009 2:02AM]

I think they will install Antivirus 2010 or Total Virus Protection on your computer for free.

[lawyer bird @ Jul 19th 2009 6:07AM]

@ phantom

what?

[zargon @ Jul 19th 2009 8:27AM]

@lawyer bird: They are two spyware/malware programs

[Eh @ Jul 19th 2009 6:57PM]

no, it comes with free software that gives you amazing deals on the products youre interested in.

[fischju @ Jul 19th 2009 1:52AM]

Ah, the viruses I infected my grandmother's computer with all those years ago...

[MARSHAK @ Jul 19th 2009 9:31PM]

i know that rose when i see it.

[Eh @ Jul 19th 2009 7:04PM]

You probably shouldnt have have tried to watch "Austin Powers DVDrip.exe"

[JJ @ Jul 19th 2009 1:54AM]

“And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.”

[tacomanmcjhonny @ Jul 19th 2009 2:56AM]

totally inappropriate... awesome.

[sweet greggo @ Jul 19th 2009 1:55AM]

Does it still come with all the hidden spyware? Cos if it doesn't, it's not Kazaa.

[Cody @ Jul 19th 2009 2:03AM]

This is making me think of the zune pass...monthly payments, unlimited music.

[FNG @ Jul 19th 2009 10:43AM]

use napster. it's $5 a month and DRM free.

[Lazarpandar @ Jul 20th 2009 6:28AM]

and you can't download anything, its all streamed.

for 4x as much though with Kazaa you can take all music anywhere apperantly.

[neofolklore @ Jul 21st 2009 8:47AM]

and you guys are actually debating this....

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jul 19th 2009 2:04AM]

This is hilarious.

[Gavin @ Jul 19th 2009 2:04AM]

Well I guess limewire is the last standing. Kazaa lmao so many viruses wow. I used to think the software was made by anti virus companys, to get u to buy one of their products. Lol stupid me ...

[E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment @ Jul 19th 2009 2:07AM]

Woah kazaa, i haven't used that in years, I can't believe that it is still around :-/
*tear* i watched my first porno vid when i was 12 using kazaa ;')

[Tohe @ Jul 19th 2009 2:07AM]

Life? what life?

[Ducman69 @ Jul 19th 2009 2:22AM]

Kazaa? I'm feeling so nostalgic now... gotta bust out my gameboy advanced!

[ALBGunner04 @ Jul 19th 2009 2:07PM]

More like original GameBoy!

[Orbital @ Jul 19th 2009 2:31AM]

Wow.. Kazaa. I haven't heard of that in years. :(

Makes me feel kinda sad, like how geocities is ending. Then I remember I don't give a damn because this is the internet, and something will always replace another.

[Entourage @ Jul 19th 2009 2:32AM]

You know what was ironic, I use to get paranoid about the RIAA so I used another client that connected to gnutella called Xolox(I was misinformed obviously as it didn't matter which client you used). Did anyone use that? I was using it at the time during Jr. High. I didn't use Kazaa till K-Lite came out.

[Husher @ Jul 19th 2009 2:43AM]

*blows up a balloon and lets out all the air*

[tacomanmcjhonny @ Jul 19th 2009 2:56AM]

Yargh! abandon ship boys, its off to the new world!

[Rob @ Jul 19th 2009 5:04AM]

Why do they keep doing this? They are literally trying to force all these "subscription services" and shit down our throats. It's actually kind of annoying now.

[chuuchdizzle @ Jul 19th 2009 6:42AM]

yo any of you nostalgic folks remember WinMX?

[Will @ Jul 19th 2009 7:29AM]

Yes! WinMX was the shit. When I found inbetween P2P programs I felt like some sort of file-sharing god.

Then it became useless in what felt like about 15 minutes.

[Entourage @ Jul 19th 2009 10:07AM]

I got great music out of WinMX so it left a great impression on me.

[Valicore @ Jul 19th 2009 11:43PM]

Holy crap, I just remember WinMX always froze my comp because I was trying to download more than my comp could handle. Damn, we be gettin' old...

[Wwhat @ Jul 19th 2009 8:54AM]

Kazaa was sued then made legalish and was abandoned by people many many years ago, what is this 'news' to be about?

[Victor Stuber @ Jul 19th 2009 9:34AM]

wow I kind of forgot about kazaa for a while. geeze that thing was loaded full of virus's

[Melpond @ Jul 19th 2009 9:45AM]

don't adults just use torrents?