by 
The Curious Bag
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<h4 class="dechead">On One Hand: Old Program and Network Contains Viruses
Previous to BearShare v6, downloading and using the software put users at significant risk of unintentionally downloading and installing viruses, spyware and malware, which are installed without the consent of the user. The free version of this program came bundled with some amount of malware, while paid versions did not. Even with these paid versions, however, users could potentially download viruses or malware unintentionally through BearShare's peer-to-peer file sharing network.
On the Other: New Program is Virus Free
As with many of the peer-to-peer file sharing networks in the past, BearShare was subject to a multi-million dollar lawsuit, which resulted in a takeover of the company and drastic changes to both the software and its network. Because of this, versions of BearShare starting with v6 do not contain any malware, and all files are automatically verified before being shared on their new network.
Bottom Line
To avoid unintentionally downloading viruses or malware, you should only download BearShare v6 or above directly from the official web site.
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