Don't necessarily expect them to boom overnight, though. Webnoize researcher Gregor Rhoda notes that Napster has not been put out of business, only limited in its activities until it creates a compensation scheme with the record companies whose music flows over its platform. Centralized service like Napster, routes file requests for a range of multimedia files through a central corporate server. Formerly one of the largest Napster-like services, it was sued by the recording industry and shut down under bankruptcy protection.
Routes requests through a central server, and offers access to video and image files.
Offers the ability to complete downloads even if the original owner goes offline while the file is being transferred. The newest version of the software allows the user to piggyback on other file transfer services, including AOL, ICQ, Napster, OpenNap, or Gnutella, among others. Volunteer-run open source program can be chaotic and extremely slow download times. Also can be blocked by network operators. Various derivative programs such as Gnotella, Gnewtella, Newtella, Mactella, have also emerged in recent months.