eXeem is a new peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing client loosely based on, but not incorporating, the BitTorrent protocol. eXeem is designed to replace the need for centralized trackers - servers which co-ordinate the transfer of metadata across the Bittorrent network. eXeem has taken on new significance for the filesharing community since several prominent trackers were forced to close in December 2004 as a result of legal action, mostly from the Motion Picture Association of America.

Overview

eXeem was created by Swarm Systems Inc. which is located in Saint Kitts and Nevis - a Carribean island. The company has employed Sloncek (aka Andrej Preston) the founder of Suprnova.org as its spokesperson and face of eXeem. Five thousand Suprnova.org users were selected to take part in a private beta test of eXeem before the public beta was released on 21 January 2005.

Among the features expected (although not confirmed) in eXeem are:

• On-the-fly encryption and decryption
• Searching by file hash
• Quality of Service features
• Proper Universal plug-and-play-support

Confirmed (non-standard) features are:

• User comments & ratings, but only when the file has been downloaded (to stop fake ratings)
• Minimum limited upload rate (5KB/s) to stop leeches .

Criticisms of eXeem

Criticisms of eXeem arose soon after it debuted (and after sloncek's 'unveiling'). These include:

• eXeem's for-profit operating model, including support through advertising (much akin to Kazaa) and a public beta that included the adware program Cydoor. A spyware-free version, eXeem Lite was subsequently released, and eXeem has since dropped Cydoor from version 0.21 onward.

• Closed source code development, in contrast with the open source model followed by the BitTorrent specification, which eXeem aspires to replace.

• No initial Linux or Mac versions, with no ability of third parties to port the code beyond Windows (as eXeem is closed source).

See also

• Shareaza, another decentralized P2P client with BitTorrent support under the GNU GPL license

External links

• eXeem's homepage
• eXeem Lite Homepage
• eXLite vs eXeem Lite- February 7, 2005 MP3 Newswire article
• Boing Boing posting and screenshots on eXeem
• News article on Slyck - includes partial transcript of Sloncek interview