MESSAGE
| DATE | 2008-02-19 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Free the DVD's
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http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873241-7.html?tag=nefd.pop
February 18, 2008 9:00 PM PST 'DVD Jon' frees your media with DoubleTwist
Posted by Erica Ogg | 1 comment
The man notorious for cracking the DVD code, and Apple's FairPlay DRM,
is looking to make a legitimate business out of his expertise.
Beginning Tuesday, the first product from his company, DoubleTwist
Ventures, will enter open beta. Called DoubleTwist, it's a free desktop
client that essentially allows any kind of music, photo, or video file
to be shared between a long list of portable media players, and through
Web-based social networks.
Instead of iTunes songs or videos taken with a Nokia N95 remaining locked
on the phone, DoubleTwist software allows for dragging, dropping, and
syncing of different media formats no matter the device.
The idea, according to DoubleTwist founder and CEO Monique Farantzos,
is that media files should be more like e-mail. It shouldn't matter
what service you create the file in, or on what type of hardware, it
all should work together seamlessly, she says.
Farantzos recruited DVD Jon, or Jon Lech Johansen, and the two have been
working with about 10 others for the past eight months on the DoubleTwist
software. Johansen says DoubleTwist allows him to bring the success he's
found to a wider audience.
"It's one opportunity to write something for your Web site for use by a
couple thousand geeks," he said in an interview. But with DoubleTwist,
the idea is to hide all the complexity of making easy transfers of files
from the user so that even non-techie types will understand. "The goal
is to make something your parents can use," he said.
It works like this: When a device is plugged into a PC (Windows XP and
Vista only right now, Mac OS X coming soon), DoubleTwist launches and
recognizes all the media files on the device. Any file can be selected,
dragged, and dropped into DoubleTwist to be synched up to a separate
device, or shared with other users you've "friended" who also use
DoubleTwist.
DoubleTwist(Credit: DoubleTwist)
By adding Facebook compatibility (with OpenSocial platforms next on their
list), DoubleTwist users can share media through the social network. A
Facebook application called TwistMe will allow users to drag and drop
media content into a box on a fellow user's Facebook profile. The friend
will then see the shared files show up in his DoubleTwist desktop client.
Social-network compatibility is key to enable real sharing of media
between users, Farantzos said. "It closes the loop between the Web,
devices, and the desktop."
DoubleTwist also recognizes and imports all iTunes playlists and will
read instantly which ones are protected by digital rights management
technology. The software automatically plays the song files in the
background (sans volume) and re-records them as MP3 files so they can
be transferred to any device. Note: DoubleTwist only does this for songs
you own or are authorized to play in iTunes.
Farantzos says they're not picking on any one particular brand of DRM,
especially since the entire industry, led by Amazon, is leaning toward
a DRM-free policy.
"Digital media is dominated by two players, Windows Media and iTunes,
and they each have their own agenda...we see ourselves as the Switzerland
of digital media. We are format and device agnostic."
-- http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff http://www.nylxs.com -
Leadership Development in Free Software
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like
Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world -
RI Safir 1998
http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS -
RI Safir 2002
"Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
"The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers
to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in
our own society."
"> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be
damned.< You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and
technology have been attached at the hip since the 1st dynasty in
Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
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