Let me start by saying, I like our government. For as bad as it could be, the internet itself has transformed the integrity of our representatives, the flow of information and has cut off the flow of politically “organized” information, keeping it raw. It has provided accountability.

So, the FTC has issued the following warnings, I’ve added my comments.

Set Up the file-sharing software very carefully
DA: Agree on this, you should always pay attention, it would be as bad as putting oil in your gas tank. The install program should make this easy, if not, shouldn’t you question why not.

Be Aware of spyware
DA: This is not a P2P issue, it is everywhere. Any company that has spyware in their software should be alienated by consumers. Spyware should be illegal, maybe the FTC should do that. It is like someone putting a “bug” on your phone. THAT is ILLEGAL. So, go to www.pctools.com and get spydoctor. When it finds spyware, trust me that it will, BOYCOTT these companies. There is a reason they are called “infections”.

Close your Connection
DA: What?…they are missing the point, putting oil in the gas tank. P2P shares the worlds computing resources. The logic is that if you share yours, when you need it, others resources are available to you. This is easy, free and with the right company, exactly ZERO risk. The FTC is proclaiming the sky is falling. Here’s a negative rant….do you ever think the FTC might be a puppet…when P2P is commonplace, making it real, would we ever really need a “new computer”..no we wouldn’t, we would just need software to connect the people and their computers, we might even be able to downgrade our computer and use the money to have fun with our family/friends. Sorry to the PC makers…….switch to monitors, we will always need those.

Use an effective anti-virus program and update it regularly
DA: A P2p problem?…hardly. The FTC should prosecute these people and make it a felony, even an act of terrorism, harsh?…maybe, but malicious intent is the worst kind.

I use AVG FREE from Grisoft…the link below, great product, no gimmick.

http://www.grisoft.com/doc/289/lng/ww/tpl/tpl01

Talk with your family about file-sharing
DA: I couldn’t agree more, be sure to know the facts about the advantages, not just a general call that the “sky is falling”…that is only for chickens.

I can assure you that 8one8 will provide a service to you that is based on integrity, no bait & switch. I encourage you to share your knowledge of P2P and ready yourself for a change in the Internet.

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Here is the full article from the FTC…pdf format.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/sharealrt.pdf

This might be obvious to most of you, but I still often marvel at the simplicity of P2P. Typical internet companies have COST..they have cost to supply the storage, backup and the server capacity to handle the “hits”, also known as bandwidth. Well, P2P doesn’t have this cost, covered in earlier blogs. The largest hurdle to any “people transaction” based system is the Critical Mass, again, covered in earlier blogs. But did you think of this…..

P2P can be used in very small groups, it doesn’t need critical mass to be effective. For example, if you have a family/friend personal network of just 10 people and they each have only 10 DVD’s, the network now has the ability to watch 100 movies EACH…so every person in the network benefits by a factor of 10X….even though they only have 10 DVD’s.

If ONE family buys ONE more DVD, it benefits the network by 10X…meaning, 9 more family’s can “trade” or “borrow” it without cost to the user, OR to the company providing the software, in this case 8ONE8 as there is no storage or bandwidth requirements. Think about this for a second…..take it beyond DVD’s….ever buy a PS2 or XBox game, play it till “you’ve beat the game”…and the it just gets dusty? Once you’ve read a book….you keep it to maybe read it again, but wouldn’t it be great to share this book, Harry Potter, Michael Crichton, John Grishman. It allows people to save money by sharing and save time from the bookstore, not to mention the gas prices to get there.

What else is possible? upgrade your computer? have a drawer of old, but still good parts? And of course, the “trade” doesn’t have to be same-for-same, I’d gladly trade you toys my kids have outgrown for some duplicate gift you got for your birthday…hmm…once more, if you think about it, the possibilities are endless.

We are not messing around with fee for this or fee for that, we have the ability to provide a transaction system, free of cost and free to use. Get ready…tell your friends to build your network and get ready for the change.

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The easiest way to attract customers is to do something that is easy, free and replaces something they already do.

Time…Which is THE key part of our lives, as it is the only thing that moves forward, no matter what you do or how hard you work. For everyone, it moves at the same pace.

So, the simple mission of 8ONE8 is to make something “free” AND save you “time”. There are so many services out there that have us make a delicate choice between money and time, examples would be home grocery delivery, lawn service, dry cleaning, maids, netflix vs. blockbuster, etc.

There are very FEW services that are “free” AND save you “time”.

8ONE8 allows you to list your item in 30 seconds, with as many pictures as want, list it ONCE, with an infinite end date, and only respond to buyers you want for free.

You want to list 1,000 items…it’s free listing and no final fees and without having to “monitor” it in 7 days, paying for stuff that didn’t sell…seems almost backwards when you really think about it.

Wait until you see the add-on services….a few examples below.

> Need a garden tool, find out which one of your neighbors has one and is willing to share…8ONE8 will remind you to return it.

> Have a garden, and you’ve already eaten too many tomatoes? Share them with you neighbors via 8ONE8 Garden Share, trade them with your neighbors via 8ONE8.

> Know someone in need that is too proud to ask for help? Post an 8ONE8 Needs List where the 8ONE8 Good Samaritan Group can spread the word and help your friend.

> Your car break down? Call your spouse or a friend to send an 8ONE8 Help alert, which pages your friends to help you, someone might be close by.

> Have kids that outgrow their clothes too fast? Be connected with groups that can “hand it down” using the 8ONE8 trading system.

> Tired of shopping one item at a time? Post your entire shopping list, and have 8ONE8 organize the transactions for you, but store, by item, by child, anyway you choose.

> Can’t find something? Make your want list public, and push your transactions to buyers signed up that specialize in your “want”.

8ONE8 is a transaction system…not an eBay Wanna Be…stay tuned.

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Some of you may have seen the purchase of SKYPE by eBay. For those of you that don’t know SKYPE, take a look at www.skype.com as it is a great technology on top of a P2P network.

P2P is the future, is there any doubt?

I think the real power is not that a company with barely 7 million dollars in Revenue can generate an acquisition of almost 4 BILLION dollars but the REAL power is that the consumer no longer accepts the old school method of the need for a middleman to facilitate commerce between people. Skype has done it for free, creating software and giving it away without the impact of having storage or bandwidth costs.

What is next? Who is next?

P2P is here now, is there any doubt?

I encourage you to be a demanding consumer and tell your friends as well.

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I have spent so much time, almost every day understanding what has made eBay successful and it comes down to one thing….They have the sellers, so the buyers come, them more sellers come. This is called “critical mass”….There are so many I’ve started calling them “eBay wanna-bees”. They take the eBay model, and try to make it better, lowering fees, adding features, etc.

Check them out for yourself, open them up and see the “attempt”.

http://www.overstock.com
http://www.classifiedsellers.com
http://www.livedeal.com
http://www.craigslist.com

This is like Macys telling you about Gimbels, I ask that you stay in touch and tell your friends, we are about to do something different, really different. We have the power of P-Commerce (P2P), which allows us to offer many services for free without a cost structure.

If you “wanna bee” part of this important change, pre-register now and tell a friend. 8ONE8 will need your support to obtain critical mass…Our goal 1 Million listings in one month.

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What a cool world we live in where technology is formed without a specific purpose and then creative people find a use for the new technology.

We’ve been immersed in Peer-to-Peer uses for the last few years and wanted to pass on our learnings to you, unscrtipted, unedited (hopefully without spelling/grammar issues) thoughts.

Simply put, Peer-to-Peer architecture uses the unused computing power of our often idle PC’s and shares the POWER to the community. Even as I type this, I’m using maybe 1% of my dell laptop, why not have the other 99% help someone else. Here is my motivation, if I share now, I can benefit later when I need it. It’s a big first step, but someone has to do it.

So…for now, P2P has been used to steal, let’s call it what it is, stealing music, video, etc. Now I understand why, once we learned that a burner is <$30 and CD's are <$.01 each, and it takes < 2 minutes, we were pretty upset with the record industry. And they cry foul? Come on....at $15 a CD, they have been taking us for a ride, and now we know and somehow even the people with the highest morals, have the entire Billy Joel collection, whether they like Billy Joel or not.

The technology has somehow been packaged with two very negative things, the record company stealing from you, and now the general public (you know who you are) stealing it back.

P2P has a better use…..more on that to come….post your thoughts, agree? disagree?

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