Lphant
 Search results for Zeitgeist, the Movie on the Kad network | |
| Original author(s) | Juanjo |
|---|---|
| Stable release | v3.51
/ July 24, 2008 |
| Written in | C# |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS |
| Size | 2.8MB |
| Available in | English, Spanish, German, French, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish |
| Type | Peer-to-peer file sharing |
| Licence | Freeware |
Lphant is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS operating systems[1], which supports the eDonkey Network and the BitTorrent protocol.[2] It is available in 11 languages.[3] The original Lphant application is often confused with an iMesh client called "Lphant 5.1" (see Domain Name Acquisition)
Features
Lphant is a multi-network client, capable of searching for files by connecting to ed2k servers or through the emule source exchange and the kad network. Files can be downloaded simultaneously using the ed2k and BitTorrent protocols. Lphant supports various experimental ed2k features such as Protocol obfuscation, endgame althorithm and webcache[4], some of which are only found in eMule mods. However, some emule modders consider Lphant a leeching application and have therefore created algorithms which emulate their mods to Lphant when connecting to an Lphant client.[5]
Domain Name Acquisition
On March 9th, 2009 Discordia Ltd, a Cyprus-based company[6], acquired the home page and the advertisement server of the original application, respectively lphant.com and adliveserver.com domains.
Instead of advertisements, current versions of the original application may display a message suggesting to users they should upgrade Lphant by installing an executable package named LphantV4.exe or LphantV5.exe. Installing this package will result in removal of the original application and loss of eDonkey and BitTorrent connectivity.[7] [8]
A similar vulnerability[9] was discovered on the Shareaza P2P client but due to Shareaza's open source license and frequent updates, it was quickly fixed. Users of the original Lphant application can prevent the display of such messages by blocking the ad.adliveserver.com domain using a hosts file or a firewall.
The LphantV5.exe package can also be downloaded at lphant.com, the former web site of the original application. The web site has been redesigned using the same elephant-like logo of the original application. The similarity of names and graphics may have caused some download services to falsely advertise the eDonkey and BitTorrent connectivity of the original client while providing the LphantV4.exe or LphantV5.exe packages for download.[10] [11] [12] [13]
References
- ^ Archived 2008-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Lphant description". Chip Magazine. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Lphant information (languages)". Softonic. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
- ^ "Comparison of eDonkey software". Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-04-10.
- ^ "emulate lphant feature". Sourceforge/ScarAngel. Retrieved 2009-04-10. "Most other clients in the eD2k network prefere sharing with clients of their own kind."
- ^ "Software Company Discordia Ltd from Cyprus". software-companies-list.com.
- ^ "Discordia Takes Over 'Lphant' P2P Domain". FileShareFreak."it connects neither to BitTorrent nor to eDonkey/Kad but to its own, centralized and filtered network"
- ^ "Lphant under the Control of Record Labels". p2pon."we wouldn’t recommend since it doesn’t connect either to BitTorrent or to eDonkey/Kad. Instead, it connects to a centralized network of its own which again means that only a limited file types are allowed, video files can only be 15 minute-long"
- ^ "Shareaza Domain takeover". Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia."new domain takes advantage of the automatic update feature built into versions prior to 2.3.1 of the original Shareaza to suggest to users that ShareazaV4 is an update to Shareaza. This vulnerability was fixed in Shareaza 2.3.1.0"
- ^ "lphant is an eDonkey client". betanews. Despite offering a screenshot of the original application, the provided LphantV5.exe package is not an eDonkey client as Betanews claim
- ^ "compatible with emule/edonkey". Softpedia. The provided LphantV5.exe is not compatible with emule/edonkey
- ^ "compatible with emule/edonkey protocol". File Cluster. The provided LphantV5.exe is not compatible with the ed2k protocol
- ^ "compatible with emule/edonkey". download.com. Although Download.com claims to offer the original 3.51 version, the provided link redirects to Discordia's domain which offers the non-original LphantV5.exe client
External links
- Archived 2008-02-06 at the Wayback Machine
- The Lphant project at Sourceforge.net
- The original Lphant 3.51 client, downloadable at Softonic.
- The original Lphant 3.51 client, downloadable on CHIP.eu