morpheus

Morpheus is the name of a file sharing client for Microsoft Windows, operated by the company StreamCast (formerly called MusicCity), that originally used the OpenNAP peer-to-peer (P2P) platform.

Morpheus is one of the most downloaded software products on Download.com with over 157,000,000 downloads to date.

Located at Morpheus.com, it has a Web-based search interface, just like Audiogalaxy had, though Morpheus searches all kinds of media, not just MP3s. In 2001, Morpheus changed protocols, from OpenNAP to FastTrack. On February 26, 2002, all Morpheus clients suddenly stopped working when the FastTrack protocol was updated and Morpheus users no longer were allowed to log into the network. This was apparently because of a licensing dispute between StreamCast and the owners of FastTrack. On March 2, 2003 a new, less-robust Morpheus client using the Gnutella network and the networking core from the Gnucleus servent was released. When challenged on their decision not to abide by the terms of the GPL, under which Gnucleus had been released, Morpheus switched to a very outdated Jtella core, and after the disputes had been worked out, Morpheus switched back to the Gnucleus core. Since then, the network core has been updated to include Gnutella2, and StreamCast has created their own network, 'NEOnet,' and has included support for MLDonkey plugins, allowing access to EDonkey Network, Overnet Network, and, once again, FastTrack.

In April 2003, Grokster and StreamCast (providers of the Morpheus P2P software) obtained a ruling by a Los Angeles federal court judge, Stephen Wilson, in its favor against the RIAA and the motion picture industry which stated that their file swapping software was not illegal. On 20 August 2003, the decision was appealed. On 17 August 2004, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a partial ruling supporting Grokster and StreamCast, holding...

This appeal presents the question of whether distributors of peer-to-peer file-sharing computer networking software may be held contributorily or vicariously liable for copyright infringements by users. Under the circumstances presented by this case, we conclude that the defendants are not liable for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and affirm the district court's partial grant of summary judgment.

In December 2004, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. Oral arguments began on 29 March 2005. On 27 June 2005, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Morpheus and Grokster may be held accountable when their users pirate music. (See also MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.)

On June 4th 2005 Streamcast Networks released a completely redesigned Morpheus 5.0. Connecting to NEO Network, Gnutella & Gnutella2, and its lack of bundled software, Morpheus started to regain userbase.

Forensic analysis

On Microsoft Windows, Morpheus stores information about past searches in the registry under the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER|HKEY_USERS]\Software\Morpheus\GUI\SearchRecent

Morpheus preferences allow you to set the application to not save recent search history, delete on every exit, or save recent searches for access while conducting subsequent searches. The LastWrite time on this key will tell the investigator when the key was last written to, or when the last search term was added to the list.

Presence of Adware/Spyware

The current version of Morpheus, version 5.2.3 does not install adware or spyware to your computer, but it does install some Desktop shortcuts to adware websites. When Morpheus is open and running, the interface is cluttered with online ads, because adware is still present in the current versions. There is also an optional peer-to-peer Morpheus Toolbar during installation.

To remove the Desktop shortcuts just right click and delete them. To block the online ads in the interface on Windows XP, add the line '127.0.0.1 ads.morpheus.com' to your hosts file without the quotations. Then open Internet Explorer, go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, Restricted Sites, select "Default Level", then click on "Sites" and add 'start.morpheus.com' (without the quotes) to the Restricted Sites.

External links

• Morpheus Website
• Streamcast Networks
• NEO Network
• Morpheus Forum
• MGM v. Grokster case documents
• MGM v. Grokster Ninth Circuit oral argument transcript
• MGM v Grokster Day 1 - Coverage from MP3 Newswire on the first day of the Supreme Court trial.
• Advanced Peer-Based Technology Business Models. Ghosemajumder, Shuman. MIT Sloan School of Management, 2002.
• Music Downloads: Pirates- or Customers?. Silverthorne, Sean. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, 2004.