August 9, 2010
Volume XXXI, Issue 10
Kazaa Delivers the Next Generation of Digital Music
Kazaa is quickly returning to the forefront of the digital music experience with the beta release of its cloud-based music streaming application allowing consumers unlimited access to over 1.6 million tracks and 1 million song lyrics.
Kazaa's new application puts consumers in charge of the music they want, when they want it, and then allows them to immerse their whole experience within an online community through the integration of the latest social media capabilities.
Emanuel Krassenstein, Kazaa's CTO said, "While there is no shortage of smart devices in the market, until Kazaa's launch no-one was offering music consumers the opportunity to fully integrate their music into their lives and social networks."
The Kazaa music service is accessible via a web browser; the consumer's play-lists, favorite artists, songs, genres, and profiles are harmoniously synced and stored securely in the cloud allowing subscribers to access their music how they want it and when they want it. Kazaa supercharges the music experience for consumers, by streaming at the optimal speed for listening quality with the Kazaa Music Player.
The ability to share play-lists with friends or the online community has been enhanced allowing customers to become online DJs. Music discovery is also enabled by a real-time "Explore" feature, that instantaneously tracks and displays what music is being played, added to play-lists or added to favorite lists throughout the Kazaa site.
In keeping with the mission to return control of the music to fans and artists, Kazaa's API facilitates access to music interaction data allowing developers to create exciting new music interfaces.
"The interactive experience is focused on giving consumers music on their terms, which will result in more content being delivered and more revenue being generated for artists," added Krassenstein.
More to come! Kazaa's beta offering of its cloud-based music streaming application and everything that comes with it signals its commitment to continue developing new product offerings and services at full speed. Consumers and artists can expect continual advancements to the Kazaa service into the future as it takes the lead.
New Method Improves Search Functionality of P2P
Excerpted from CWI Report
P2P programs such as Kazaa have become extremely popular over a short period of time. As the amount of data in P2P networks is growing at a fast rate, the limited functionality of the programs themselves often fails to meet the needs of the users.
By integrating the technology of database systems in P2P systems, the search functionality of these applications can be drastically improved. Ying Zhang of the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam developed a method to achieve this, which she described in her PhD thesis "Efficient Distributed Query Processing on Heterogeneous XQuery Engines."
Her method offers many advantages to users and is much less demanding on the network than the present systems. Zhang received her PhD degree on July 8th at the University of Amsterdam. P2P networks are well adapted to the dynamism and volatility of the underlying computer networks, but they use only simple and limited search techniques. Among a huge number of files, the user has to filter the right ones himself.
The development of applications for automatic filtering is complicated because, among others, the data are distributed over a large number of different sources. Zhang developed the XQuery Remote Procedure Call (XRPC) method in which she combines the advantages of P2P networks and those of database systems. XRPC is applied to XML data, which is the most common format for exchanging data on the Internet. The method of Zhang connects a large number of database systems with each other to carry out complex search queries jointly in an efficient way. Zhang concentrated her research on the complex problem having XML query languages work with XML data that are distributed over a large amount of computers.
XRPC defines among others an extremely simple and scalable protocol so that different XML database system can communicate with each other efficiently over different P2P networks. The method developed by Zhang is implemented in the existing XML database systems MonetDB/XQuery. Alongside P2P networks, Zhang's method can also be used on many other kinds of networks varying from traditional client server systems to the more exotic networks such as Data Cyclotron.
Rackspace Defines the Future of Cloud Computing
Excerpted from BNET Report by Erik Sherman
Rackspace announced a partnership with NASA and an open-source cloud platform called OpenStack. The concept is to give away a platform for private clouds, like an infrastructure-oriented Google Android. It's a smart move and one that will continue to twist arms of the enterprise-business-as-usual gang.
To date, cloud computing has become a focus of vendors that want to lock corporations into "their way" of doing cloud. Microsoft wants all-in on Azure. Amazon wants companies to use its services. IBM has its services - and all of it is proprietary. No wonder. The vendors well understand the profit they can make from locking in customers.
So what does Rackspace, an outsourced infrastructure provider, do? It knows that large corporations will work with a combination of private clouds that they host themselves, and public clouds that essentially offer on-demand instant provisioning of resources. The company sees itself as a service provider, but understands that much of what corporations do, particularly as they warm up to the idea of having systems on a public cloud, will remain in-house.
So why not enable potential clients to run a cloud on the same systems Rackspace uses itself? And between what Rackspace and NASA have both developed, it's something that will have substance: fully-distributed file and media storage and delivery; scalable compute-provisioning engine for large-scale deployments; and Apache 2.0 license, so companies can run the systems, build on them, or submit changes back into the open source projects.
Rackspace and NASA put forward the argument that an open source approach is necessary as the only way to promote cloud standards and avoid proprietary vendor lock-in. Smart, smart, smart.
Rackspace sets itself up to look like a reasonable hero and helps ensure that some number of large corporations adopt its software and then grow to feel comfortable to use Rackspace when a public cloud project is feasible.
Because both Rackspace and NASA have used parts of the software to power large-scale projects, OpenStack has a huge leap ahead of many open source projects, because potential users already know that it has worked. The effort has also gained important third-party support from the likes of Intel, Dell, and Citrix. And making the software open source, even under the Apache 2.0 license, has no danger for Rackspace. What competitor would want to admit that it had used the company's software to drive its own cloud services?
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 US Congressional staff this week asked a number of interested parties, including the DCIA, to address the question: "In any targeted legislation on the FCC's authority over broadband, what provisions need to be incorporated to ensure the integrity and protection of content against theft?"
Combating copyright infringement of Internet content is indeed a very serious matter. Several attempts to address this through private sector working groups have not been as successful as our initiatives involving network providers and application and service providers, frankly, because major content providers have not yet been ready to productively engage in such efforts.
This is the primary reason that there are not yet any voluntary best practices (VPBs) or other policies addressing Internet content issues. Yes, unfortunately, that statement is correct. Not one such initiative has been completed to date.
In fact, a major area for further development on the Internet is the creation and adoption of fundamental business models regarding content consumption, replication, and distribution; and in some cases the general types of technological solutions as well as the new business practices that will ensure the integrity and protection of content against copyright infringement in these models.
Numerous web-based technologies have been invented that can offer consumers the means to discover, access, and redistribute content, but large content providers are typically not yet ready to license these as standard operating procedure for authorized use of their copyrighted works.
Examples include file-sharing applications (e.g., LimeWire); peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols (e.g., BitTorrent); Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) programs (e.g., Skype); user-generated content (UGC) websites (e.g., YouTube); social networks (e.g., Facebook); self-casting software (e.g., Twitter); instant-messaging (IM) services (e.g., AIM); cyber-lockers (e.g., RapidShare); cloud computing solutions (e.g., Amazon); and commercial search engines (e.g., Google).
Indeed the proliferation of online technologies that can be used to facilitate file transfers and/or real-time streaming of Internet content has grown exponentially, whereas the typical licensing infrastructures of major established content providers have not adjusted to this disruptive change.
This situation is typical when new content delivery mechanisms are initially introduced. There is usually a period of time during which the disruptiveness of such inventions causes widespread copyright infringement before the entertainment industry has had time to react and adjust. This was as true of the VHS player and satellite TV as it is of file sharing and cloud computing.
Once the transition is complete, however, all constituents benefit from the faster, better, and more affordable distribution channels that have been created. More people will be able to access a larger variety of Internet content on more attractive terms than ever before and rights holders will generate more revenue than previously.
Even if the strategic decisions regarding terms-and-conditions for content utilization by each of these web-based technologies had been made, which they have not, the ability to service the unprecedented number of potential distributors and sales agents in all of these new potential distribution channels does not yet exist.
Before turning to the question we were asked to address, it is important to note that distributed computing technologies, including P2P downloading and live P2P streaming, do enjoy many fully authorized and licensed implementations by industry-leading companies which serve both the entertainment and enterprise sectors. Typically, these deployments permit the redistribution of content seeded exclusively by rights holders and do not support user-originated content.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has as its primary purpose in the context of this discussion to protect consumers against harm from abuses of network providers, application and service providers, and/or content providers.
We were therefore somewhat surprised by the question we were asked to address: "In any targeted legislation on the FCC's authority over broadband, what provisions need to be incorporated to ensure the integrity and protection of content against theft?" And even more-so by the imprecise and provocative word-choice "theft," when what seems to have been intended is "online copyright infringement."
Given the FCC's mandate to protect consumers, we would have expected a question such as: "In any targeted legislation on the FCC's authority over broadband, what provisions need to be incorporated to ensure the safety and protection of consumers against such dangers as malware, deceptive broadband practices, copyright liability, inadvertent exposure of personal and confidential data, and identity theft?"
The Commission should not be catering to special interests of industry groups, whether network providers, application and service providers, or in this instance, content providers. Each of these groups has valuable intellectual property (IP) that can be threatened by abuse, but no sector's contributions should be deemed superior in subjective ways to the others.
We believe the FCC's existing six broadband principles should remain as such to be adopted on a voluntary basis by industry participants, including those representing these three primary categories (network, application/service, and content), as a strategic guide for their behavior. In cases where there appear to be violations of these principles threatening demonstrable harm to consumers, then investigations should be undertaken to ascertain the seriousness of such threats and to determine whether government intervention could realistically bring forth remedies.
Techniques for the Commission's intervention where so warranted should be expanded to include the federal agency equivalent of private sector working groups, where the directly involved participants can be brought together, still voluntarily, with an assignment to solve the clearly delineated problem within a reasonable timeframe through technological solutions and/or business practice changes, or face the prospect of further governmental involvement.
Above all, the FCC's authority over broadband should encourage ongoing innovation and permit experimentation among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers to develop new business models and technological solutions that entitle consumers to: access lawful Internet content of their choice; run applications and use services of their choice; connect to the network with their choice of devices that do not cause harm; enjoy the benefits of competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers; experience no discrimination against particular Internet content, services, or applications; and be assured of transparency regarding network management practices, the operation of applications and services, and the terms-and-conditions for acquiring and utilizing Internet content.
In many cases, the implementation of plain language notice-and-consent regimes can be of great benefit to consumers in ensuring that these entitlements are realized; and the FCC along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) may be able to contribute substantially to improvements in this regard.
But to directly answer the question we were asked to address, we propose the following.
Provisions in legislation targeting the FCC's authority over broadband with respect to protecting the integrity of IP of major players - including network providers and application and service providers as well as content providers - against potential abuse should limit the Commission's ability to intervene only in those areas where business models have substantially matured and been widely adopted by industry participants and generally accepted by consumers.
A consensus of directly affected industry representatives, whose market share of the defined area covers a majority of the business in that space, should first be required to expressly request the Commission's assistance. In addition, there should be a clear directive from a majority of the affected consumers before the FCC becomes involved.
Industry parties are already protected by existing laws and have recourse to the judicial system for unilateral complaints regarding unlawful utilization of their respective IP. Share wisely, and take care.
FCC Abandons Net Neutrality Talks; Google & Verizon Deny Deal
Excerpted from Digital Media Wire Report by Mark Hefflinger
Google is close to securing a deal with Verizon that would see the company pay for preferential treatment of its Web traffic, The NY Times reported on Thursday. Both Google and Verizon disputed the report, which if true would undermine a core tenet of "Net Neutrality," which Google has said in the past it supports.
A post to Google's public policy Twitter feed stated, "NY Times is wrong. We've not had any convos with VZN about paying for carriage of our traffic. We remain committed to an open Internet."
In a blog post, Verizon said the story "fundamentally misunderstands our purpose."
"As we said in our earlier FCC filing, our goal is an Internet policy framework that ensures openness and accountability, and incorporates specific FCC authority, while maintaining investment and innovation. To suggest this is a business arrangement between our companies is entirely incorrect."
Net Neutrality hit an obstacle several months ago when a federal appeals court said the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lacks the authority to impose tenets of Net Neutrality on businesses. Since the ruling, the FCC has been in talks with many companies - including Google and Verizon - on how to proceed.
However, the Associated Press reported on Thursday that the FCC has called off such talks on a compromise. Several sources told AP that a Verizon-Google deal could be announced within days, and they "hope it will provide a framework for net neutrality legislation in Congress."
"The point of a network neutrality rule is to prevent big companies from dividing the Internet between them," Gigi Sohn, president consumer advocates Public Knowledge, told The Times.
"The fate of the Internet is too large a matter to be decided by negotiations involving two companies, even companies as big as Verizon and Google."
Judge Finds for Google in Copyright Infringement Case
Excerpted from Online Media Examiner Report by Wendy Davis
A federal judge in Los Angeles, CA has handed Google a significant victory in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by adult entertainment company Perfect 10.
In a ruling issued earlier this week, US District Court Judge Howard Matz largely cleared Google for allegedly displaying links in search results to sites that infringe Perfect 10's copyright. Matz found that in many cases, Perfect 10 had not provided the search company with detailed enough information to be able to easily remove the pirated material.
In general, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) protects search engines from liability for returning copyright images in their results, provided the search engines remove infringing material upon request. Matz said in his ruling that Perfect 10 made at least 83 such takedown requests to Google since 2001, but that most of them were deficient.
Matz elaborated that some of the takedown notices were sent to the wrong address - webmaster@google.com - instead of the address that Google had designated. Other takedown notices referred to "dozens or even hundreds of alleged infringing links," but many of those didn't contain enough details about the URLs for Google to be able to determine what material to remove.
Matz said that in other instances, Perfect 10 merely provided Google with a package of a cover letter, spreadsheet, and DVDs with electronic files - and then expected Google to "comb through hundreds of nested electronic folders containing over 70,000 distinct files, including raw image files such as JPEG files and screen shots of Google search results, in order to find which link was allegedly infringing."
While Matz didn't dismiss all of Perfect 10's claims, the ruling seems to put a big dent in the company's case, which has been pending since 2004.
Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman says on his blog that the ruling shows that content owners "should not get creative or lazy" with their takedown requests. "Over and over again, we've seen that the big service providers will respond quickly to properly drafted takedown notices; and we've seen judges become increasingly less tolerant of plaintiffs who couldn't bother to follow the statutory roadmap," he writes.
The ruling marks at least the second major recent defeat for Perfect 10. In May, a different federal judge denied Perfect 10's request for an injunction shutting down RapidShare for allegedly contributing to copyright infringement.
Verizon: No End in Sight to Expansion of CDNs
Excerpted from ipTVNews Report
As part of the build-up to the CDN World Summit 2010 event, taking place in London this September, we speak to Brian Joe, Senior Planner of Content Distribution at Verizon Communications.
In your opinion, how has the market for Content Delivery Network (CDN) services evolved over the past year?
This year we have seen broad industry initiatives such as TV Everywhere and the increase of online video consumption over the Internet drive CDN volumes significantly higher than in the past. We also have seen the price of CDN services dropping due to increased competition in the market. We've noticed that CDN pricing is not the only decision factor for many companies, with quality of service being very important, especially since many of the services online are video-based. The quality of Verizon's premium network makes us a desirable partner for many CDN providers today, and we expect that to continue in the future.
How far do you think CDNs will continue to grow, given the steady rise in popularity of online video?
In the short term, we do not see an end to the growth of CDNs. The amount of content available online from studios, networks, and consumers is constantly growing, and we expect consumption to increase along with that content.
Consumer behavior is also changing - today's young adults are becoming accustomed to consuming their content on their PCs and mobile devices, and as these young adults mature they will bring these viewing habits into their households. We're also seeing a notable increase in the amount of user-generated content among today's young people. When you consider the sheer volume of user-generated content available, that's a massive market and today's Internet cannot support that without CDN technology.
What consequences do you think this might have for the telecom industry?
There is a lot of industry attention in the online video market. What we've seen is a number of acquisitions of CDN providers by the major network manufacturers and OEMs, which means that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg with respect to how significant online video is going to shape the modern Internet. As these manufacturers start to integrate CDN technology into their network core, the flexibility and versatility of the network will increase and we expect a whole host of new products and services will become possible.
What are some of the major current challenges faced by CDN operators?
CDN operators today are probably struggling with the price compression in the delivery market and the commoditization of delivery. CDN operators need to differentiate themselves from the market by layering on some value added services, and we see a number of them trying to do that. The easy value-add is in the video segment, and so we have been seeing a lot of movement in advertising and in content management, but that is only a short term strategy.
CDN operators are going to have to continue to innovate and create new product and service offerings to make their story compelling to customers. We've noticed that even now, connectivity to Verizon's high-quality FiOS and IP networks is a key differentiator for some operators as they compete for CDN opportunities.
Betamax & Napster - Good Examples of Content Battles
Excerpted from Times Free Press Report by Donnie Jenkins
I'm basing this week's article on a recent and excellent story on ZDNet by David Gewirtz.
There has been for some time a sort of battle going on between two opposite camps in the tech world. On one side are content owners, businesses that produce books, movies, music, and videogames. On the other side we find consumers of these various types of content.
You would think these two groups would appreciate and complement each other. But no, there is a battle between businesses who want to control how their content is distributed and consumers who want to receive content in the way and at the time they choose. There are two famous examples of the clash between these two:
The first occurred in the late 1970s when the Sony Betamax VCR became popular. For the first time it became possible to use "time-shifting" in viewing movies and TV shows, something we take for granted now. Several movie studios sued Sony and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Sony's favor.
This case gave rise to the discussion of just what is fair use of copyrighted content by someone who purchases it, a discussion that is still hot and heavy today. More on this in a moment.
The second example of this conflict was the advent of the file-sharing service Napster beginning in 1999. Napster showed how much people wanted to find music that record labels deemed out-of-date and without value. It also demonstrated that listeners would love any service that made it easy to find whatever they were looking for at the time. Finally, and unfortunately, it also showed that people loved not having to pay for music, being able to download it at will.
The record industry representative RIAA was not happy about this and eventually sued Napster out of existence. RIAA was equally unhappy when several new and similar services immediately came into being. The genie was out of the bottle, so to speak.
The copyright statute that governs what is fair use is called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). It is routinely blasted by consumers' rights groups as too restrictive and, some would say, draconian. It criminalizes some use that these groups believe should be allowed routinely.
As you can imagine, the copyright owners hold a different view, one that says they must be allowed to protect works in which they have invested time and money.
One interesting part of this law is that some aspects of it are to be reviewed every three years. This week saw such a review on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with amazing results. While I don't have the ability to describe all the changes here, one in particular is central to our discussion.
It is now legal to extract or "rip" limited content from a DVD you buy and use parts of it in YouTube videos as long as it is not used for profit. This is good news and the creative YouTube users I spoke of last week can only benefit from this. I look forward to more of their efforts, but you can be sure that the content companies will be heard on this subject, too.
What About Creating a Digital Transmission Right
Excerpted from Techdirt Report by Mike Masnick
Bennett Lincoff has been proposing a different kind of solution to the music industry's online woes for quite some time. Reader SteelWolf sent in a copy of Lincoff's proposal that was sent to the Canadian government during its open copyright consultation last year.
The basic idea of the proposal is that a new right would need to be created under copyright law, the digital transmission right, that would replace the mishmash of copyright rights that currently cover online music (generally reproduction, distribution, and performance rights). Basically, this transmission right would cover any and all music transmissions online and any license fee would be paid by the transmitter, not the transmittee.
Thus, anyone could download or stream any music they want on their computer with no penalties at all and no need to secure a license. However, you would not then be able to share (transmit) that same music to someone else without a license. But this wouldn't matter so much (the theory goes), because a large service provider could pay for the transmission rights, absolving the individuals.
In other words, with such a system, in theory, The Pirate Bay (TPB) or a Napster could pay the transmission rights, and users would be free to both download and upload via those services. The theory is, of course, that it would be worthwhile for those sites to pay because they would get many other benefits from all the users flocking to them for sharing:
"This 'digital transmission right' would be a new right, not an additional right. It would replace the parties' now-existing reproduction, public performance and distribution rights (and, where applicable, the making available right and the right of communication to the public). These would no longer have separate or independent existence for purposes of digital transmissions of sound recordings or the musical works embodied in them.
The only act that would require a license, or payment of a license fee, would be the digital transmission of recorded music. Every transmission that is not subject to exemption would require authorization. This does not mean that separate payment would be due for each transmission of each recording; only that, regardless how license fees may be calculated, all non-exempt transmissions would require authorization.
Licenses would be made available unconstrained by the concerns that have driven the industry's failed campaign to salvage its sales-based revenue model. The determinative consideration would be whether or not recordings had been digitally transmitted, not whether transmissions result in sales, promote sales, or cause sales of recordings to be lost.
Licenses would be issued without regard to whether recordings are streamed, downloaded, or transmitted by some means not yet devised; whether music programming is interactive or non-interactive, or contains this, that or another recording; whether the service accepts user-generated content, operates as a P2P or social network, or otherwise retransmits or further transmits recordings that originate from other sites or services. The number of copies necessary to effect transmissions and the type of transmission technology used would not affect the availability of a license."
There are a lot of other details, and Lincoff has clearly put a lot of thought into the proposal and tried to cover many of the bases that people would likely critique. Compared to our current system, it certainly sounds like it makes more sense. He definitely does an excellent job describing that the only real problem is one of the industry's own making in still thinking entirely in the context of the old way that music was "sold."
But the proposal still has a variety of problems. First, it's incredibly complex and not easy to understand. This is, of course, also true with existing copyright law. But replacing one super complex system with another one isn't necessarily a great thing either - especially if that level of complexity isn't needed. Second - and this is my really big problem with it - is that it still involves a huge and totally unnecessary bureaucratic nightmare in the middle that represents tremendous economic and societal waste in terms of managing the licenses, monitoring the usage and the transmissions of content and collecting and distributing the money. It's bureaucracy that isn't needed.
We're already seeing over and over and over again that if you take out the unnecessary bureaucracy, artists can create business models that are much more direct, whether directly between the artist and the fan who wants to buy something or between an organization representing the artist. This is a much more efficient system, whereby there are plenty of opportunities to pay artists for various scarcities, rather than making up a totally unnecessary license for an abundant good which the market has already decided should be priced at zero. As soon as you set up this bureaucratic structure, what really happens is that much of the money that could have gone directly to the artists (or to the artists' business partners) goes instead into the massive overhead required to keep the "collection society" working in the middle. This isn't a solution that helps musicians. It's a solution that helps bureaucratic middlemen. As SteelWolf notes in his submission:
"Personally I find these kinds of plans to be dangerous as they promote the idea that there is some kind of a 'solution' that allows content creators to retain control over digital files as they propagate across the Internet. These are not solutions, they are handwaving to obscure the fact that the economy has changed so that absolute control over content is neither possible nor necessary. The voluntary aspect of licensing promotes the idea that negotiating uses and fees with rights-holders is somehow the 'morally correct' way to proceed, never once considering the idea that our culture may have moved beyond that construct.
Vuze 4.5 Promises Faster Downloads, Android Support
Excerpted from ZeroPaid Report by Jared Moya
Vuze 4.5 promises many "significant increases in download speed" and adds support for the Android Os in keeping with its moniker of "find, download, and play."
Vuze, formerly Azureus for those BitTorrent old-timers out there, has taken dramatic new steps with Vuze 4.5 to live up to that moniker, this time devising a number of "behind-the-scene speed improvements and adding support for the Android OS.
"We spend a lot of time thinking about how to deliver ever faster download speeds to you," it says.
It's done so mainly by integrating a new speed test into the BitTorrent client that automatically optimizes Vuze's settings for your network on launch.
"We can't make house calls to install faster broadband pipes for all of you, but we can make sure that Vuze adapts to your network and delivers the fastest download speed possible over your Internet connection," it adds.
Also of note is the addition of support for the increasingly popular Android OS. All you have to do is plug your smart-phone running the Android OS into your PC and and wait for the Android icon to appear in the Vuze sidebar.
After your download is complete simply select device and, in this case, select Android Phone. Vuze 4.5 will then convert the content to the proper resolution and transfer it to the device.
The last feature worth mentioning is what many uTorrent users have already come to take for granted: file prioritization. Now users can prioritize specific files with a multi-file torrent.
Jolicloud 1.0 Now Available for Netbooks
Excerpted from iSmashPhone Report
Linux-based OS Jolicloud 1.0 is now available for download. The operating system is optimized for netbooks, and runs circles around Windows.
The software is available through both a Windows installer, and the Jolicloud ISO & USB creator, which will come in handy for those who don't run Windows on their computers. The OS itself is available through BitTorrent.
Windows users need not worry about losing their original OS, as Jolicloud can install alongside Windows, creating a dual-boot machine.
The best part is that it's a free download - definitely worth checking out.
TorrentFuse - Preview Samples to Ensure File Verification
Excerpted from Slyck News Report by Thomas Mennecke
BitTorrent search engines are popping up all the time, but TorrentFuse is something that caught our eye.At first glance, it looks much like any other BitTorrent search engine - it scours many (if not most) of the major BitTorrent indexers/trackers, has room for user comments, and is familiarly organized. But there's one exception, a small data collection program called the Easy uTorrent Installer (EUI) that aids in verifying torrents.
The way this program works is rather interesting. It collects 6 screen shots and/or 30 seconds of audio from the media you're downloading. This information is then re-uploaded onto the TorrentFuse server. So if you're perusing TorrentFuse for Episode 2 of Slyck's Video Guide to the Newsgroups, you'll of course want to know whether it's a fake or not - or check its quality. If TorrentFuses' plan comes together, one can preview screen shots of the video and 30 seconds of audio. Users can then make the determination of whether the information is worth downloading or not.
Understandably, the BitTorrent community (not to mention the file-sharing community as a whole) are generally untrusting of any kind of data collection - especially from a new comer. However, we've talked to "Baz," who administrates the site, and the EUI is indeed open source.
"Advanced users can see it's not doing anything evil or spyware like. To do this, use .NET Reflector on the .exe," Baz told Slyck.com.
With the considerable resources of the BitTorrent community constantly picking apart various technologies, we have no doubt this interesting tool will be fully examined as well. If everything checks out, TorrentFuse will distinguish itself from many other search engines that all pretty much do the same thing.
There are already several titles on TorrentFuse where users have taken advantage of this feature. It seems to work, and we're interested to see where this intriguing development goes.
Deutsche Bank Begins Coverage on Alcatel-Lucent
Excerpted from American Banking News Report
Deutsche Bank analysts initiated coverage on shares of Alcatel-Lucent in a research note to investors on Monday.
Alcatel-Lucent provide products, solutions, and transformation services offerings, which enable service providers, enterprises, governments and strategic industries (such as transportation or energy) globally to deliver voice, data and video communication services to consumers.
It offers fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, Internet protocol (IP) technologies, applications, and services. The company operates in four business segments: Carrier, Application Software, Enterprise and Services.
In May 2009, the Company completed the sale of its 20.8% stake in Thales to Dassault Aviation. On December 31, 2009, the Company completed the sale of of Dunkermotoren GmbH, the electrical fractional horsepower motors and drives subsidiary, to Triton.
In July 2009, the Company acquired Velocix, a global provider of content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure and services to Internet and broadband service providers, and media and entertainment companies.
Rdio Takes the Wraps Off its Social Music Service
Rdio, a new way to discover music through people, this week took the wraps off its social music service. With the end of its invitation-only period, Rdio is now available to anyone who wants to enjoy unlimited access to seven million songs either on a desktop or a smart-phone. Rdio recently expanded its music collection through deals with leading independent aggregators and updated mobile applications for the Android and iPhone's OS 4.0.
"Rdio users love how simple it is to use," said Drew Larner, CEO for Rdio. "Imagine having an unlimited online jukebox which shows you what others are listening to - you can enjoy any song you want, as many times as you want, whenever and wherever you want. The social nature of Rdio means you can discover new songs every time you visit Rdio."
Building on its content from the major music labels, Rdio recently signed partnerships with major independent music aggregators including IODA, IRIS, Finetunes, INgrooves and The Orchard. IODA's collection includes music from the London Symphony Orchestra, Arts & Crafts and Ghostly International, among others. IRIS brings thousands of tracks to Rdio, including music from labels like Ninja Tune, Chemikal Underground and Metropolis. The Orchard brings labels including Fania Records, Frenchkiss Records & TVT Records. INgrooves adds music from Fat Possum, ESL Music & VP Records.
Rdio continues to update and enhance its apps for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, letting Rdio mobile subscribers listen to their entire collection, add new songs and create new playlists straight from their smart-phone.
Taking advantage of the new multi-tasking benefits of iPhone OS 4.0, users can now listen to music while browsing the Web, using other apps or e-mail. And, Rdio will pause songs during a phone call, and play the song where it left off when the call ends. Subscribers can sync as many songs and playlists as the phone will allow, to enable playback even when there's no reception when users are on a plane or traveling underground.
"By taking the work out of what to play next and relying on recognized taste-makers, not computer algorithms, people are going to find new music they like," said Drew Larner.
Rdio, pronounced AR-dee-oh, costs $9.99 per month for unlimited web and mobile access (including the ability to listen to music and playlists offline), and $4.99 for web-only access. Completely ad-free, Rdio is currently available in the United States and Canada.
YouSendIt Closes on $15 Million in New Funding
YouSendIt, the global leader in secure digital content delivery, announced this week that the company has raised a $15 million Series D round of venture capital financing from new investor Adams Street Partners and existing investors Emergence Capital, Sigma Partners and Alloy Ventures. The funding will be used to accelerate growth and increase market share.
"YouSendIt has witnessed significant growth and momentum since its inception in 2004, and the Series D funding will permit us to further extend our market leadership position," said Renee Budig, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at YouSendIt. "Global businesses are evolving and demanding more collaborative work environments and this funding will enable YouSendIt to support the changing needs of businesses by offering more valuable services."
Adams Street Partners, one of the largest managers of private equity investments in the world, led the new round with additional funds coming from prior investors Emergence Capital, Sigma Partners, and Alloy Ventures.
"YouSendIt has rapidly proved its value proposition of offering fast, easy and secure digital file delivery," said Robin Murray, Partner at Adams Street Partners. "We anticipate that this financing will provide a foundation for the company to extend its value to a new generation of customers and bring to market new capabilities for the enterprise market."
In conjunction with the investment, Murray was named as an Observer to the YouSendIt Board of Directors. Murray joins directors Brian Jacobs, General Partner at Emergence Capital; Bob Spinner, Managing Director at Sigma Partners; Ammar Hanafi, General Partner at Alloy Ventures; Nick Sturiale, General Partner at JAFCO; Brett Caine, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Online Services Division at Citrix Systems; Ranjith Kumaran, Founder and CTO of YouSendIt; and Ivan Koon, CEO of YouSendIt.
Next LimeWire Court Date Set for January 18th
Excerpted from Digital Music News Report
LimeWire gets its next day in court on January 18th, 2011, according to limited details shared by company executives with Digital Music News. The date has been set to determine damages after a crushing summary judgment was issued, and follows a Tuesday conference call between attorneys on both sides. The RIAA recently lost a motion to freeze various LimeWire assets.
January is far away, at least when measured by "Internet time," and that will give LimeWire considerable breathing room to develop its legitimate, cloud-focused release. It also means that LimeWire can operate as a mostly infringing app until at least late January, part of a legal process that has taken the RIAA years to resolve (the case of Arista Records LLC et al v. Lime Wire LLC et al, 1:06-cv-05936-KMW was first filed in August of 2006).
The RIAA also confirmed the court date to Digital Music News.
EFF Helps Mass File-Sharing Lawsuit Victims
Excerpted from ZeroPaid Report by Jared Moya
Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) new "US Copyright Group v. The People" page is "intended to help those sued learn about the claims made against them, explore possible defenses and most importantly, to help those sued find legal counsel to assist them."
The EFF has been at the forefront of public interest groups lining up to help the tens of thousands of BitTorrent users and counting who've found themselves the target of a copyright infringement lawsuit at the hands of the "US Copyright Group."
The Washington DC-based law firm first targeted more than 20,000 BitTorrent users that it alleges distributed either of the independent movies "Steam Experiment," "Far Cry," "Uncross the Stars," "Gray Man," or "Call of the Wild 3D."
A few months later it convinced the producers of the Academy Award-winning movie "The Hurt Locker," likely miffed at dismal box office ticket sales, to join their venture which offers the accused quick $2,500 settlements to avoid risking much larger judgments for copyright infringement at trial.
The EFF began compiling a list of attorneys willing to help those accused, and later teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Public Citizen to file amicus briefs with judges in Washington DC asking them to quash subpoenas submitted by the US Copyright Group. They argued the USCG has yet to prove that courts there even have jurisdiction over the John Doe defendants that the subpoenas are supposed to identify.
Now the EFF is further trying to help people ensnared in this mass file-sharing lawsuit by launching a resource page dedicated to "help those sued learn about the claims made against them, explore possible defenses and most importantly, find legal counsel to assist them."
"The people targeted in these mass lawsuits need good information about this situation and their options," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "USCG vs. the People provides answers to the many of the questions faced by anyone who learns their identity is being sought in connection with USCG's campaign or receives an intimidating letter from USCG. It also includes a list of attorneys who are interested in assisting."
It says that it believes the USCG is abusing copyright laws in order to extract quick paydays from people with limited financial resources and means to defend themselves of the charges in court.
"EFF has been concerned about USCG's lawsuit campaign since it first came to light this past spring," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "USCG has ignored or sidestepped basic legal protections granted to all defendants. We believe it is misusing the lopsided nature of copyright law, which was written largely to target commercial infringers, to shake out settlements from ordinary people with few resources to defend themselves."
It was revealed late last month that the USCG was gearing up for a new phase of its mass lawsuit efforts by reportedly enlisting the help of some 15 law firms around the country to begin filing individual lawsuits against people in their respective areas who have refused to settle out of court.
Coming Events of Interest
NY Games Conference - September 21st in New York, NY.The most influential decision-makers in the digital media industry gather to network, do deals, and share ideas about the future of games and connected entertainment. Now in its 3rd year€“ this show features lively debate on timely cutting-edge business topics.
M2M Evolution Conference - October 4th-6th in Los Angeles, CA. Machine-to-machine (M2M) embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. "M2M: Transformers on the Net" showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead.
Digital Content Monetization 2010 - October 4th-7th in New York, NY. DCM 2010 is a rights-holder focused event exploring how media and entertainment owners can develop sustainable digital content monetization strategies.
Digital Music Forum West - October 6th-7th in Los Angeles, CA. Over 300 of the most influential decision-makers in the music industry gather in Los Angeles each year for this incredible 2-day deal-makers forum to network, do deals, and share ideas about the business.
Digital Hollywood Fall - October 18th-21st in Santa Monica, CA. Digital Hollywood Spring (DHS) is the premier entertainment and technology conference in the country covering the convergence of entertainment, the web, television, and technology.
P2P Streaming Workshop - October 29th in Firenze, Italy. ACM Multimedia presents this workshop on advanced video streaming techniques for P2P networks and social networking. The focus will be on novel contributions on all aspects of P2P-based video coding, streaming, and content distribution, which is informed by social networks.
Fifth International Conference on P2P, Parallel, Grid, Cloud, and Internet Computing - November 4th-6th in Fukuoka, Japan. The aim of this conference is to present innovative research results, methods and development techniques from both theoretical and practical perspectives related to P2P, grid, cloud and Internet computing. A number of workshops will take place.
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