The US Federal Communications Commission chairman was before senators this week testifying about the network management techniques employed by Comcast. He said that Comcast definitely blocked access to P2P filesharing networks. Not only that, but it did it on a regular basis.

Comcast used several techniques to block its own users’ access to filesharing programs like Limewire and Ares. He added that this was not used only sometimes with the intention of delaying traffic, but rather, it was a full onslaught against filesharing.

Several consumer groups have filed complaints against Comcast, stating that the ISP blocked and tampered with access to filesharing network without good reason. Comcast has since defended its actions, although it’s clear that the company is in a spot of bother now.

Many of Comcast’s user were not able to access filesharing services in the past.

UK retailer Tesco recently launched a new service for music downloads. Starting next month, Tesco Digital will give users access to music downloads for iPods and other MP3 players with a selection of more than 3.3 millions tracks available for download.

Less importantly, there will also be about 100 flash games available for free download.

The service will be available from the Tesco Extra store in Portman Road, Wokingham. We’re sure this isn’t the only store the service will be available from, but we found this news on a local website.

Although Tesco is only beginning with legal music downloads, it’s expected that in the future, there will be movies and TV shows available for legal download. With the sort of sway that Tesco has over UK consumers, you can expect that this will be a big thing. Tesco, however, has never been a champion in terms of selling music to consumers. Retailers such as Asda have always done a much better job at bringing cheap music to the general public.

The name Ares conjures up a number of different things to different people, and its meaning is sensitive to the context into which it is introduced.

First up, and perhaps the most influential of the three meanings is of Ares the Greek War God; a truly nasty, vindictive and violent man. He stands alone among the other gods of was as being the one dedicated to savage warfare, bloodlust and slaughter. He was the epitome of brawn over brains.

NASA decided that naming their rockets after this particularly nasty deity was a grand idea and the Ares V rocket – planned for release in the 2019 – complements Ares I which is being designed as a crew launch vehicle.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Ares the P2P filesharing software. This is probably the most omniscient of all the definitions and certainly the one most likely to be recognized by younger readers.

What others are saying:
What is Ares?
officialares home page

A study by the Ponemon Institute has said that people are unaware of the dangers associated with using P2P filesharing programs like Limewire and Ares. IT security organizations are, apparently, ignorant of the risks that filesharing networks pose to their businesses.

Several large financial firms suffered data breaches in 2007 because of P2P filesharing networks. Client data was exposed. Sensitive files are readily available over filesharing network to those with the technical know-how to find them.

Companies make thousands of documents available over filesharing networks daily. Anyone can gain access to these documents. 26% of those surveyed were unaware of any policies at their place of work addressing the issue of filesharing.

More disturbingly, 35% of those surveyed were convinced that sensitive documents cannot be mistakenly transferred over filesharing networks. Only 25% thought that their company would be able to prevent such a filesharing disaster from occurring.

Note to self: stop using Limewire at work.

Filesharing in Europe received a major boost this week with the announcement that the European Parliament has stated that filesharing should not be a criminal offense. More specifically, downloading copyrighted music and movies should not be punishable by law.

This is fantastic news. The key is here: “Criminalising consumers who are not seeking to make a profit is not the right solution to combat digital piracy.”

Most people who use filesharing to find free music downloads are not doing so for profit; they are doing it because they want to listen to music. It’s not the same as a thief who goes into a shop and steals a CD because he needs money.

This announcement could indicate a shift in opinion as the worldwide filesharing debacle rages on. This report is not binding, but it serves the purpose of putting forward new ideas to the European Commission.

Modestly dubbed as the world’s most innovative site for legal music downloads, MP3Rocket.com recently launched its “100 Most Popular Artists”. This application allows users to vote for their favorite artists to be displayed by week and month to make free music downloads even easier.

Of course, this relies on your music taste being in tune with the rest of the world for it to have any use. And we do already have music charts, so this isn’t quite the revolution people are making it out to be. But still, if it makes getting music downloads easier for some people, it can’t be a bad thing.

Users can also watch their favorite artists’ music videos. Unfortunately, the top five artists at the moment for music downloads are Rihanna, Britney Spears, Linkin Park, Abba and Amy Winehouse.

It’s really just a pop music chart. MP3Rocket uses the Gnutella filesharing application and is available for free download. We’re not overly keen on MP3Rocket because when you try to leave their site, a popup menu comes up. There’s also a voice ad on the homepage.