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Mercora - New Radio P2P Network
jtids writes "The maker of P2P Client, Shareaza, is working
on a new Radio P2P project called Mercora.
This network gives users the ability legally webcast
music to other users on the network. Users can also share images, send instant
messages, and join groups where they can participate in forums and chatrooms.
Although the program itself is still in beta, the project looks promising."
Mercora, a derivation of a Latin word meaning "to trade" and is run by Chief Executive Srivats Sampath, former CEO of McAfee.com
Wired ran an article on this last year here.
If you are running linux, bsd, mac or anything but windows you're out of luck there is only a windows client. I don't care enough to get this working under wine.
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It looks like they do pay royalties to a certain group that represents many artists: Or so they say here
We'll know if it's right by the RIAA factor, being how fast they can get a subpeona out to these guys.
There is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men. -- Boondock Saints
Not only on *what* you broadcast, but also *when* you broadcast.
From the legal disclaimer: You may not "Webcast specific sound recordings within one hour of the request by a listener or at a time designated by the listener"
MULTICAST!!!
its p2p idiot
Sounds like Konspire2b, but not open source, and only for windows.
Besides, the guy who wrote konspire is also the guy who wrote MUTE, so I think he knows a thing or two about P2P.
From the Gentoo desktop of Luke Harman
What they say and what is true are two entirely different things.
The rules of ownership (I have this, I can do what I want with it, and give it to my friends as fair use in a limited domain) are completely different from the rules of broadcast (I have this thing, and I'm going to do what I want with it and give it to anyone that is even remotely interested).
The website gives you the impression that you can webcast the files you have to your friends. However, the restrictions on this (to be legal) make it basically useless to how the majority of people would use this anyway. Read below for the restrictions:
You are not allowed to do any of the following things:
* Publish advance program guides or use other means to pre-announce when particular sound recordings will be streamed or the order in which they will be streamed (this is because we are a non-interactive webcasting service)
* Webcast specific sound recordings within one hour of the request by a listener or at a time designated by the listener
* Webcast audio content for which you do not have the legitimate legal rights for use (music you have ripped from CDs that you own or music you have downloaded from a legitimate online music store like Apple iTunes is considered legitimate, music downloaded using file-sharing programs like KaZaA are not legitimate)
Is broadcasting music on the Mercora network legal? Yes. Mercora has obtained the necessary licenses so that you can broadcast music on the Mercora Network legally.
Specifically, Mercora enables the webcasting of music according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 114 (required Adobe Acrobat to read). Mercora has obtained the statutory license for the non-interactive streaming of sound recordings from Sound Exchange, the organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to collect and distribute statutory royalties to sound recording copyright owners and featured and non featured artists. Mercora has also taken care of all U.S. musical composition performance royalties through its licenses with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Most song writers are represented by these agencies but there are some who are not affiliated with them, and you will need to obtain their permission before you can webcast their music. Mercora also ensures that any broadcast using the Mercora client adheres to the sound recording performance complement as specified in the DMCA. Read more about broadcasting on the Mercora Network.
I
I've tried PeerCast before -- neat idea, but it simply isn't practical -- not many people have enough bandwidth to relay a 128kbps stream realiably, and every time I tried it I got nothing but stuttering and skipping.
How is this different from PeerCast? I glanced at the Web site, and didn't see anything that was revolutionary -- looks like PeerCast combined with IRC to me.
Though, perhaps they have fixed the problems PeerCast seems to have with bandwidth -- I've used it off and on, but it seems to always suffer from lag. Perhaps that would go away if there were more users, or perhaps it's just inherent in the design of the network -- I've never bothered to look at the technical details.
Anyway, I think the more exposure Webcasting has, the better. More variety, smaller players that can appeal to niche audiences, and lack of corporate interests playing to the lowest common denominator for the highest advertising profits are all advantages Webcasting has over traditional, ClearChannel-dominated radio. At the moment, at least. :-)
The network is nice, I admit I use it myself but its not new technology. This also is not a new network because I've been using it for a while. I don't know why this site decides to post this to the top of the page when other P2P news far more important is not posted.
Did you know MUTE developer Jason Rohrer will be speaking at the 5th International Free Software Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil?
View some slides Slide1
and notes Slide2
Lets also not forget that Shareaza is open source now.
People don't exist to serve systems, systems exist to serve people.
have you tried station ripper or streamripper?
station ripper seems to miss many splits... streamripper was told to FOAD by live365.com.
For shoutcast, many/most places have fades between the end of the previous and next -- so the splits are messy, at best... you get (1) missed beginnings, (2) missed ends and (3) fade outs and talk overs at the begining and ending of songs
On the other hand, if you don't care.. then you can get most of the stuff. For things like ambient, it doesn't matter... it seems to only be an issue for short files -- such as rock, etc.
I do find it amusing that live365 thinks that no one is recording its streams.
First off, the small print on the CD doesn't mean anything, it's Copyright Law that matters. The small print simply tries to explain it (while conveniently neglecting to mention fair use).
Second, the Mercora people have a contract with SoundExchange, AZCap (royalty clearing house), etc. Note: it says Unauthorized. They are paying royalties on it, so it's legal.