Google Boots FrostWire From Android Market, But Why?

Ernesto
October 18, 2011
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frostwire
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Without any explanation Google has suspended the FrostWire file-sharing application from the Android market. The timing of the removal is both remarkable and unfortunate. Google’s decision follows the news that FrostWire had settled its dispute with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over privacy concerns.

With more than a million installs FrostWire is one of the most popular file-sharing applications on the Android platform. But despite this success Google has decided to pull the app from the Android market place.

FrostWire’s Angel Leon tells TorrentFreak that his company was not informed why FrostWire was suspended, but the first thought is that it has something to do with the recent settlement his company reached with the FTC.

Just before the weekend several news outlets reported that FrostWire and the FTC had settled their court case over privacy concerns. The government agency, which aims to protect the rights of consumers, alleged that FrostWire was disregarding users’ privacy by sharing files by default.

FrostWire agreed that this was a valid concern and based on pointers from the trade commission, updated its desktop and Android applications. These updates were actually carried out months ago, meaning that since then the application was no longer a concern for the FTC, hence the settlement.

“We fixed the app ages ago, and probably 99.9% of the userbase is actually running 0.6.3 (one generation over), so there shouldn’t be a hint of worry in regards to the FTC Complaints,” Leon said.

However, some reports in the media made it seem like FrostWire was still breaching users’ privacy, and this may have triggered Google’s decision to boot the app from the Android market.

Angel Leon notes that the worst part of it all is the lack of communication on Google’s part. Aside from a notice that the application had been suspended, the FrostWire team has received no information. It could be that the removal is totally unrelated to the FTC issue, but without a word from Google that’s impossible to confirm.

“It’s just plain wrong that you get suspended without ANY explanation or ANY notice, specially an app for which people have said they bought an Android for, and which has been installed on over 1 million devices during the last 12 months,” Leon says.

Attempts from both the developers and TorrentFreak to contact Google about the issue remained unanswered thus far, so there is no other option for FrostWire than to wait.

For now the FrostWire Android app can still be downloaded via the FrostWire website. However, the number of shared files has dropped dramatically since this setting was disabled by default.

In the coming weeks the FrostWire team will turn the Android app into a (more usable) BitTorrent client, as they’ve already done with the desktop version. The source of this new client will be released under a GPL license as soon as the first version is released.

Let’s hope that by then FrostWire will have been allowed back into the Android market.

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Guest

“Don’t be evil?”
- http://ompldr.org/vYWN3ag/see-what-i-thought-id-do-was-id-pretend-i-was-one-of-those-slut-whores-LOL.html w3ts1ut
  
  *Unless it’s profitable.
  
  Jailbreak that shiznit.
- Guest
  
  I am always writing “Google is evil” but people seem to deny it. Why? Because they can’t live without Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Blogspot, etc.
  
  GOOGLE IS EVIL and you know it!
  - Guest
    
    hahaha
  - http://ompldr.org/vYWN3ag/see-what-i-thought-id-do-was-id-pretend-i-was-one-of-those-slut-whores-LOL.html w3ts1ut
    
    Just for you, Guest, I’ll mention some great techniques that I learned from the Anti-Surveillance Secret Institute (for) Mozilla Illuminated Learning Against Tracking Everybody (ASSIMILATE) to keep Google out of your life.
    
    Step 1. Download and use Firefox, wear short skirts
    Step 2. Launch Firefox, wear tight bras
    Step 3. Type about:config into your URL bar, hit enter
    Step 4. Filter results by typing “keyword.URL”
    Step 5. Paste this into the text pane:
    
    http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi?Gw=
    :::Then hit enter
    ==Default URL bar is now free of Google==
    
    Step 6. Click searchbar icon to the right – “Manage Search Engines”
    Step 7. Uncheck “Show Search Suggestions” – Remove Google.
    Step 8. Purchase beer, use one of these for default search:
    
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/scroogle-ssl/
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/duck-duck-go-ssl-search-plugin/
    ==Seachbar is now free of Google==
    
    Step 9. Open Firefox options/prefs – click the “Privacy” tab
    Step 10. Follow ALL the instructions on this image:
    
    http://i.imgur.com/X9JvM.png
    
    =====
    ==Any further tracking from Google (and FB etc) now will
    ==be temporary, persistence of personal data is a CRIME!
    =========
    
    Step 11. Download “NoScript”, make temporary exceptions to scripts:
    
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/
    (Google’s Analytics, which seems to dominate the net anymore, will be blocked with NoScript, among various other things)
    
    Step 12. Get drunk and laugh hysterically at the 12-step program.
    Step 13. Download “Better Privacy” to remove any flash objects:
    
    https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/betterprivacy/
    
    Step 14. BLACKLIST GOOGLE AND ALL OF ITS SERVICES! (YOUTUBE/GMAIL/G+/etc)
    ^^^ To do this takes a bit of ninja skill – get to know your /etc/hosts file (this file exists on windows in %SystemRoot%system32driversetchosts but we won’t talk about that because if you’re using Windows then you’re already doing it wrong ^_^) – Direct as many Google IP’s as you can to localhost or some such other place. A more efficient method would be to blacklist them with a firewall.
    
    Step 15. Last step – Methodology, this too is extreme ninja mode, you must, through much practice and training, understand the psychology of posters around you, at this stage in our scientolo– I mean our private training with DIE ANTWOORD down at the institute, we learn how to navigate the web freely, bypassing Google and other tinfoil killing machines, use common sense, audit code, investigate links. I have been Google-free for more than 19 minutes now, a new record! There are many other ways to keep clear of Google, this is by no means fully air-tight, use a VPN, use alternative services that actually AREN’T evil
    
    I apologize for the long comment and partial deviation of topic (In fact, by a tutorial such as this it would make sense to just throw your Android into a blender, Will-It-Blend style), but don’t get angry at me for trying to help a sista out – get angry at Google for making it so difficult to stay untracked :) A pastebay entry for this comment will be located here in case one should want to remove or down-size this comment – http://al.ly/065
    
    http://donttrack.us/
    http://dontbubble.us/
    http://panopticlick.eff.org/
    https://ssl.scroogle.org/sslnote.html
    
    Good luck! As an alternative solution to all the above, you can just throw your computer out the window.
    - Guest
      
      Dude, do you read minds?
      I DO EVERYTHING YOU POSTED with few differences:
      
      - default search engine = ssl(dot)scroogle(dot)org
      - keyword.URL = about:blank (I don’t want to search anything if I type a domain name incorrectly
      - “Show Suggestions” disabled
      - Add to Search Bar 2.0″ addon (allows you to add any website to the search bar)
      - ALL COOKIES BLOCKED except for websites I need to login to
      - ‘Do Not Track Me’ disabled because of browser fingerprinting (don’t forget > noscript.doNotTrack.enabled = false)
      - To control Flash Cookies aka SuperCookies I use BetterPrivacy addon; Adobe Flash Player Preferences = Storage disabled (might break some flash videos); Camera and Mic disabled; and an application to edit Flash Cookies called “Sol Editor” (used in GNU/Linux with Wine)
      - /etc/hosts to block Big Brother LINK > pastebay(dot)com/141901
      - NoScript of course!
      - VPN of course
      - panopticlick link bookmarked long time ago :)
      
      You forgot to mention
      - whoer(dot)net/extended (great website)
      - decloak(dot)net
      - Tor, SSH Tunnels, Web proxies, Proxychains, etc
      - Adblock Plus
      - HTTPS-Everywhere
      - Disabled browser referer settings
      - network.proxy.socks_remote_dns = true
      - temporary emails
      - (there are much more about:config settings for better privacy!)
      - ‘Modify Headers’ addon
      - ‘User Agent Switcher’ addon
      - (a lot of stuff I can’t remember now)
      
      I HOPE SOMEONE FINDS THIS HELPFUL! Cheers…
    - Guest
      
      damn how could I forget?
      
      DO NOT USE Google DNS (8.8.8.8) or OpenDNS
      
      they record every DNS Query which means ALL WEBSITES YOU VISIT
      
      Use a DNS server from opennicproject(dot)org/en/publictier2servers which doesn’t keep logs.
      
      :)
    - Guest
      
      damn how could I forget?
      
      DO NOT USE Google DNS (8.8.8.8) or OpenDNS
      
      they record every DNS Query which means ALL WEBSITES YOU VISIT
      
      Use a DNS server from opennicproject(dot)org/en/publictier2servers which doesn’t keep logs.
      
      :)
    - Guest
      
      damn how could I forget?
      
      DO NOT USE Google DNS (8.8.8.8) or OpenDNS
      
      they record every DNS Query which means ALL WEBSITES YOU VISIT
      
      Use a DNS server from opennicproject(dot)org/en/publictier2servers which doesn’t keep logs.
      
      :)
  - Danny
    
    They only turned evil when they went public. Money and greed always ruins good things!
- Scary Devil Monastery
  
  Here’s my wild guess – Frostwire was subjected to a takedown notice, Google removed the app without checking whether the takedown was legitimate or not. It’s not like this hasn’t happened before.
  
  Which is one of the problems with allowing takedown notices without stringent approvals in the first place – if the notice is legitimate Google cannot afford to ignore it but not even Google has the manpower available to deal with takedown spamfloods in detail.
  
  Whereas it costs very little to actually create a takedown notice in the first place. I think the process can even be automated.
Anonymous

perhaps Google wants everyone to use Xunlei. it is part owner, after all
Nick12506

Hope everyone is jailbreaking it now.
- Not
  
  You don’t jailbreak Android, you root it.
  - Ken
    
    Which you don’t even need to do to run non market apps.
  - Ken
    
    Which you don’t even need to do to run non market apps.
  - Scary Devil Monastery
    
    Only reason to root an android phone is if you want to be able to flash it with a custom ROM or if you absolutely want personal system access. You can already install whatever the hell you like on it whether the app is on the market or not.
    - Tiggy
      
      What about freezing/uninstalling bloatware?
    - Scary Devil Monastery
      
      “What about freezing/uninstalling bloatware?”
      
      True enough. If you want to scuttle the various Google/manufacturer add-ons you need root.
      Personally I’d just get myself the FOTM custom ROM instead of mucking about piecemeal with Sense so I’d still say the only real reason for establishing root is for flashing.
      
      Well, subjectively speaking I can go for another reason – root access in order to truly “own” the hardware. I’d go for that but then again I’m a paranoid control freak so I’m not including this under “common reasons”.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s a pretty fucked up world when the ignorant assume corporate control is the default position.
  - Scary Devil Monastery
    
    Mainly because there are a number of corporations which do assume end-user control as the default position.
    
    Sad to say in the electronics/software markets we do have a number of main actors whose main business model relies on denying users owner privileges over their bought hardware or obfuscates the use to which that corporations puts said sold hardware. Sony and Apple spring to mind.
    
    Where Google is concerned the main beef I have is that opt-out programs or not, there still is no telling for any “average” user as to which use his history is put.
~L()$T~

4share.com look up frost wire allow 3rd party installs BAM! lol
- Kr0nZ
  
  Umm why? Just download it from the frostwire site
Phil Landry

ADownloader does a pretty decent job anyway. No need for that client.
- Gubatron
  
  will ADownloader share files wirelessly with your desktop and allow you to share files with all the other phones in the same wifi network, search their files?
  
  FrostWire for Android is not about downloading files from the internet, it’s about creating either ad-hoc p2p networks in the same room, or about connecting with others on the internet.
  
  Next releases will include BitTorrent support too.
  
  I’ve never used ADownloader, I don’t doubt it’s a good product if you recommend it, but they are very different products with different purposes.
  - LaticiaBowman
    
    if its about creating ad hock p2p networks, then i don’t see any reason why the ftc would have been involved. I mean its not like the mafiaa could see your ad hock p2p network from 20k miles away…
    - Sendaii
      
      It’s not only ad hoc networks, you can share files online. A local ad hoc is an option though.
andro

LOL.
jailbreak android? you just need to allow external or unknown application to be installed from the settings.
install a filemanager, and then copy the .apk file to SDcard or your device, install and run it from your mobile device.
andro

LOL.
jailbreak android? you just need to allow external or unknown application to be installed from the settings.
install a filemanager, and then copy the .apk file to SDcard or your device, install and run it from your mobile device.
Guest

I don’t care much about FrostWire since they dropped Gnutella support on their desktop client (falsely accusing spam whereas the problem was with the FTC and unfortunately FW gave in without a fight despite original mission: preserving a LimeWire fork). Their desktop client is now merely a Vuze fork with a UI that’s not great for BitTorrent so I think it’s just better to use Vuze instead. Plus their Android app isn’t open source (and machine translated in French, FFS!) . I regret the shirt I bought to support them…

All that being said, what Google did is wrong, they should provide an explanation at the very least.
Pingback: === popurls.com === popular today
Anonymous

That makes a lot of sense dude, like wow.
anon-tools.tk
Pingback: Google Boots FrostWire From Android Market, But Why? | TorrentFreak | Android News Blog
Danny

Anyone else smell the MAFIAA?
Google sell out once again to corporate pressure!
ThumbsUpThumbsDown

The problem is Monopoly. Not just with google on the net, but everywhere we live; in all aspects of our lives. The default position for us as customers or citizens is “Agree” or “Decline”/ “Take it or Leave it”. We push “Accept” because, the truth is that when you’re buying from the likes of Google, or Apple or Microsoft, all you find accross the street is the same monopoly ethic: “Take it or Leave it”. “Give us all of your personal information” “Don’t forget to waive all your rights at the bottom of the page”. It’s as much in our politics as in our markets.

Every now and then we wonder how in hell it got this bad. We notice that our supposedly democratic politicians look right past us. They could care less how we’re likely to vote. They’re listening really hard to Google though, arn’t they?

And we think, “It can’t get worse.” But every now and then we meet a friend or neighbor who whispers in our ear, “I’m really afraid.”

“Afraid of what,”, you ask her. And she answers, “Afraid that’s already too late.”
Jo

can anyone email me where to download musics? send the websites to jojojo11@hmamail.com
Predator

Never get any computer devices that you don’t own and control. Don’t buy Computer mobile devices.

-1st they are expensive and cost as much as a laptop and more than a desktop.

-2nd they are not that useful since the keyboard and the screen is so fucking small!

-3rd compare to a desktop or even a laptop they are so fucking slow!

Never rely on corporations for your computer need because you can not trust corporations these days. Corporation no longer serve the society but themselves. So avoid “the cloud” as much as possible. This shit is not even reliable. Never put your personal information on it.

Why do you need “the cloud” with the terabytes capacity and teraflops speed of your home computer and the gigabyte capacity of your mmsticks? Hum?
- Scary Devil Monastery
  
  I’ll take exception here – if you have the option of flat-rate internet connection then a mobile device is a very good thing for utility. Map functionality alone and GPS is worth it.
  
  What remains is the privacy issue which is another can of worms entirely.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UJ4XRIA3A3E6MYGK755EGWLN4Q Dani A
  
  meh, my android phone is rooted and i’ve got cyanogen installed on it. I can happily install non-market apps. Google only took it off its software distribution… doesn’t mean it stopped being relevant.
Anon

Google better have a good reason for this.
http://twitter.com/Bigjake52 Jake

Honeslty Fuck Frost wire. its pure bull shit. So good ridans, Just download your music from a torrent with a real client or rip it out of a youtube video
Pingback: Google boots frostwire from android market but why ? - techtime's posterous
Anonymous

tiny.cc/qcfnd
Pingback: Google Boots FrostWire From Android Market, But Why? | TorrentForce Blog
Anonymous

http://tinyurl.com/4skyaqr
Asda

FrostWire sucks anyways
Pingback: RIAA: Google Refuses to Remove “Pirate App” from Android Store | TorrentFreak

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Google Boots FrostWire From Android Market, But Why?

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