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iCommune for iTunes Shares Over Network
James G. Speth writes "I just released a free public beta of iCommune, a plug-in for iTunes that enables music sharing over the network. Your friends' music libraries appear in the iTunes source list. You can browse their collections, and choose to download or stream their music. It also allows you to make your own music library available to others." It's a bit buggy, but it is a beta. It shows a lot of promise. It also comes with an indexer (in Python, though I might write my own in Perl :-) so you can share MP3s to iTunes clients outside of iTunes on the server end (such as from a Linux box, in theory).
It would be very smart to put a disclaimer with your beta saying that you do not endorse the sharing of copyrighted files without the permission of the copyright holder. It is best to be paranoid about such things because then you can distance yourself from the inevitable lawsuit.
From my personal POV, however, this is a great thing. File-sharing has introduced me to many artists that I would otherwise never have heard of, let alone bought. Some of my favorite artists are, in fact, ones I first heard in MP3 format. If only RIAA would see what a boon such prgrams are, rather than suing the creators of such programs...
Actually I am a lab rat in an elaborate plot to take over the world.
Anybody else remember that demo? Anybody know what happened to that feature?
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
I thought we'd long accepted the idea that p2p doesn't cost the music business a dime, and that sales actually increased noticeably during Napster's heyday. My music buying certainly soared while Napster was big - I was getting access to so many different records that I'd only ever heard ABOUT before - it was wonderful.
That was classic intercourse!
But why does everything on Slashdot have to GNU/GPL/Open Source? If it were, there would be nothing about Apple, nothing about Microsoft, and nothing about any other commercial software. In that case, I would have even less reason to read Slashdot.
Slashdot is supposed to be about "News For Nerds". I find this article to be intriguing. Am I going to download the software? Probably not. But that doesn't mean I don't want to know about it.
-> Capt Cosmic <-
Not yet, right now you can only use Apple's implementation with Obj-C Cocoa. The spec is open though, so it would be nice to see someone make a pure Java version.
Over at O'Reilly's there's a 2 part article about incorporating Rendezvous in Cocoa apps:
Incorporating Rendezvous into Your Cocoa Applications, Part 1
Why is everyone so obsessed with adding wireless capabilities to the iPod? Not a flame, really, I'm just trying to understand, what am I missing...
I want my MP3s on my stereo - i walk downstairs with the very small, very light iPod and plug it in. If I had a car, I'd get one of those iTrip things. Wireless just seems wasted when you can just walk anywhere with it, you know?
Again, unless I'm missing something...?
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
Yeah, the Rendezvous thing Steve demoed last summer was great but unless your friends are also your roommates (or you live in a dorm with them), Rendezvous isn't going to do anything for you, it's only going to find servers on the same LAN as you. iCommune lets you access iTunes libraries anywhere on the Internet.
I'm curious to know what protocol this plug-in is using. HTTP? AppleShare? This also makes me wonder about the security implications.
As for the RIAA, as long as iCommune works in such a way that the people at the other end really are "friends" and not "some anonymous asshole," it can probably avoid the fate of Napster et al. It would also help its case if it dropped the download feature and only streamed. I don't think downloading and keeping copyrighted files from a friend's library is legal or ethical but streaming them would be.
"Edna allows you to access your MP3 collection from any networked computer. This software streams your MP3s via HTTP to any MP3 player that supports playing off a remote connection (e.g. Winamp, FreeAmp, Sonique, XMMS)."
:)
A Python stand alone that will index music files and serve up dynamic pages...keeps stats too. Very nice