The false positives came from a poorly written signature in the original version of PestPatrol (before they were bought by Microsoft) and some other antispyware packages that used PestPatrol's signatures.

It was during the years of the removeable WhenU bundle that the false positive began to appear and annoy users by damaging their BearShare software and downloads even if the WhenU package had been removed or was never installed. People could uninstall that adware with no loss of BearShare functionality. The WhenU adware bundled with earlier versions was not as much of a problem because it was relatively benign and Free Peers deliberately declined to lock it into the program. I think they dropped Zango from the 5.2 versions after they noticed how people reacted to it, as well as the spectacle of Zango/180solutions' high-profile problems with the FTC and a class action suit.

You are offered a google toolbar which you can turn down. The new BearShare 6 is a different package entirely, based heavily on iMesh. Concur, it now comes with Zango by 180solutions. whenu sends browsing information of the user to a server. It is displayed also on the spyware page. Both the Pro and Lite versions do not bundle any addon-ware, spy or ad! The basis of these claims of spyware are from dated sources, as are the false positive reports from the distant past and have not been updated in the recognition databases. Truly these anti-spyware products are reporting false positives based on far, far older versions, as the products currently bundled with the 'Sponsored' version of BearShare are adware, not spyware.

Download bearshare old version