Slashdot Mirror
Turtle Beach Network Audio Appliance
Polo writes: "I always though it would be cool to create something like this. Here is a look at the 'Audiotron,'
a standalone device you hook to your stereo system and that networks
with your PC to play MP3 files. This version uses that strange HPNA
network standard (sends network data over copper phone wiring without
interfering with the phone calls). Future versions will support
ethernet and USB. Now if someone got this working with Linux, you could serve your MP3 library to multiple rooms in the house as separate streams. Obsolesence nears for my 200-disk CD changers ... " Hmm. What happens if you already have HPNA networking? That aside, this looks like a good toy for the MPAA as well.
Try the preceding few sentences:
Computers and general-purpose computer peripheral devices are not covered by the Audio Home Recording Act. This means they do not pay royalties and they do not incorporate technology to prevent serial copying. As a result, this also means that copying music onto a computer hard drive is not permitted. It is copyright infringement, and a violation of federal law.
How much more straight-forward can this be?
If you read http://www.riaa.com/tech/tech_ht.htm, you will also see it says in a couple of places that you are only allowed to make digital copies of music for your own use with certain devices.
No PC CD-R drives for mixed CDs, no MP3s, just people who make copying hardware (read: audio CD-R) that have paid a royalty to RIAA.
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
I think the reason Timothy posted it, and if you noticed his added comments at the bottom, is that:
/is/ kinda appealing
/I/ think :)
1) It is cool tech, the idea of streaming MP3s through your phone line without itnterfering
2) And this is the important one, It's ANOTHER unlicesened, promoting copying, evil evil thing that the RIAA has to worry about. Another case of bop the mole. This is, IMHO, a good thing, the more MP3 hardware that comes out, the bigger an industry that will be built around it and the harder time the RIAA will have not looking like idiots.
At least that's what
And if had bothered to look at the link I provided, you'd see that RIAA thinks that making MP3s from your own CDs is illegal, even if it is for your own use.
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
We sort of do this at work already, with a shoutcast server sending streams in office on demand. I'm curious as to how much this device costs, tho. would it really be cost effective to put a unit in every room of those house and have the streams tho? by the same token, you could just setup a low power pentium system with a decent soundcard and a nic and run shoutcast or icecast(if icecast does on demand streams, that is... i haven't checked into that) server on a more powerful system (which it looks like you need for this device anyway). A home built unit could probably be made for a few hundred dollars... and there are a lot of car/home mp3 player software packages that work with mpg123 and the like that could probably be easily modified to work with an on demand streaming server.
---
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
Remember, if you want to listen to "your" music in different rooms... you had just better go out and buy 2 CDs. l
Take a look at the press release off of the website, it specifically states:
"users will experience no interference with normal phone calls or DSL Internet connections."
"(sends network data over copper phone wiring without interfering with the phone calls). ". This sounds a lot like DSL/ADSL in that it sends the data down the line at frequencies outside the normal hearing range. British telecomm use a similar system in their Home-highway and cheap second line products (I don't know if there is equivalent technology being used in the US). Does anyone know if the HP system will interfere with these other technologies, besides am I thought all you guys had wired your houses for Ethernet as well. :-)
Many people forget that a house is normally wired with 4 conductor phone line ( green - red | black - yellow ) If you make sure that the black and yellow are connected in all the boxes, and the junction boxes in your house you can effectively have an additional private circut in your house. This is especially useful if you do have to deal with something propritary here. Another fact that most people forget is that RJ-45 is 8 conductor, where orange, orange-white, blue, and blue-white are used, so it is again possible to run an additional ethernet line through the same cable, or as I have done in the past put two analog phone lines down with the ethernet signal. In theory you may run into problems with induction fields, but I have never had a problem. You can also do other useful things, like use the black and yellow wires to run a mono feed of mp3s from your computer to your stereo.
I'd imagine that lawsuits will follow for all of these companies, since according to RIAA the only way you can have a legit mp3 is if that was the original format that it was distributed in, or if it is the public domain.
Of course, RIAA may or may not have heard of something called fair use.
Do you even know anything about perl? -- AC Replying to Tom Christiansen post.
What's the difference between this and using phone lines or FM radio? With the HPNA interface you're effectively in a 10Base based network, sending the digital form of the data (music) rather that converting to analog and transmitting. It should be a higher quality output at the far end.
What's the diff between using HPNA and your existing network. Not much, unless you're like most of the general computer using public who don't have cat5 throughout their house but can string phone line.
What interesting tidbits the previously linked page presents!
As a general rule for CD-Rs, if the CD-R recorder is
a stand-alone machine designed to copy primarily audio, rather than data or video, then the copying is allowed. If the CD-R recorder is a computer component, or a computer peripheral device designed to be a multi-purpose recorder (in other words, if it will record data and video as well as audio), then copying is not allowed.
This is remarkable. The fact that my CD-R has the capability to record data and video makes it illegal to use it to copy CDs. However, a completely identical copy, created by a CD-R without the ability to record data and video, is illegal.
But of course the RIAA has a perfectly understandable explanation for all this!
Under the Audio Home Recording Act, the manufacturers of some types of digital recorders pay a modest royalty to partially compensate the artists, record companies and music publishers hurt through unauthorized copying.
I see. So every time I buy a component-based CD-R, I'm putting money in the RIAA's pocket. In that case, if I've already paid them royalties because they assume I'll make illegal copies of CD's, I might as well have something to show for the royalties I've paid. Anything less would shatter the RIAA's implicit expectations.
These devices also incorporate technology to prevent what is known as serial copying, that is, second and higher generation copies.
Great, so now if my original is scratched beyond repair, my backup is useless to create further backups.
The RIAA's message is clear: we'll grant you the "privilege" of fair use, but only on our terms. Read it and weep, because there's nothing you can do about it.
Cost of one Audiotron: $499.00
Cost of a 486 with a cheap NIC, SoundBlaster 16, some RCA cables and a 50 foot Cat 5: $80.00
One requires a proprietary driver and takes orders from Winblows 2K.
The other peacefully coexists with other machines on your network, is accessable from a variety of platforms instead of just one, can be upgraded, repaired if necessary, and replaced easilly. Did I mention it runs Linux, can perform more functions than simply an MP3 server, and can download new MP3's while you sleep?
Bowie J. Poag
Bowie J. Poag
Unless you get two of these things, you might be better off with a good FM transmitter. Just make sure there's a spot of your FM dial that's blank. You can build one yourself or get a cheap one. All Electronics has a little battery powered one that has a jack for plugging into your sound card for about $15, and runs on AAAs. If you have multiple boxes that can handle MP3 or some other format, and have enough empty space on the dial, you can have a transmitter for each, and select a "stream" by tuning the dial. And since all of the stuff would be under one roof, the signal should be plenty strong.
:) Well, as long as you use a good filter to kill harmonics, which is the way most pirates get busted. The harmonics from the signal bleed over police/fire channels, which doesn't make them too happy. Then the FCC looks for ya....
Then again, maybe copper wire could produce better sound than radio waves?
Hey, what the hell. Boost up the signal and make your own pirate station!
X10, the makers of the great home-automation products, already sell a wireless version of something similar. Specifically, it is merely an audio sender/receiver that can plug into the back of your stereo. They market it as "MP3-Anywhere", but could obviously be used for anything. For the windows users in the crowd, it comes with plugin's for some of the popular mp3 players so you can control it remotely using an X10 remote as well.
The next site to slashdot will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and start slashdotting it early!