Where have all the Napster users gone? In an age where file sharing is synonymous with the word "free," users have a plethora of choices. One of these file-sharing systems is DirectConnect, developed by a college student named Jon Hess. Like many other P2P applications, DirectConnect will allow users to swap any type of file in a completely decentralized network. What makes DirectConnect unique is its emphasis on community.

If you visit DirectConnect's website, you'll notice that it has about 1 petabyte spread over about thousands of users. Users are expected to share at least 1GB of data. It's like a co-op club with dues where users who contribute can also share control of the network by running their own servers, which are referred to as hubs. Users of the DirectConnect client may connect to these user-driven hubs as long as they satisfy the minimum amount of data.

The interface is made up of several classic P2P windows that lock together. Once connected to a hub (users can only connect to one hub at a time), you can do a classic search for practically anything, and the results usually pop up immediately. Our search for Metallica, Madonna, and The Beatles yielded dozens of results. Downloads are pretty reliable, although you'll probably get a few "No free slots" messages. In this case, the client will continue to try that connection. If results are few and far between, the application can be set to search other hubs automatically.

Copyright concerns don't seem to be an issue on this site, although the DirectConnect folks protect themselves by issuing an "I'm not liable for copyright violations" statement.

The community aspect of DirectConnect is obvious. A window displays users and how much data they are sharing, and these can be added to the Favorite Users list. An integrated email and instant-message function allows users to easily chat, and you can peruse their collections as one could on the original Napster using a function called Hammer. For example, we were able to inspect another user's entire catalog of tracks and albums.

As a Napster alternative, DirectConnect shouldn't be the first choice for newbies. Stiff sharing requirements and manual connections to restrictive hubs may frustrate some users who would probably have a better time using Gnutella-driven Bearshare. DirectConnect's concept is interesting, however, and those who have lots of data to share may find exactly what they're looking for.