"Re-Wiring the Internet"

[keithsalisbury]

With the invention of Napster, we all shared music, and most of it pirated. But then so is millions of others all over the world. The only way the music industry could stop it was to stop Napster.

Then came Freenet (http://freenet.sourceforge.net/), an open source peer to peer transient network based on http and ALL users are anonymous. And this time the search and share facilities does not just focus on MP3s but files in general. Since then there has been many clones developed like Gnutella(http://www.gnutella.co.uk/). Apparently, Gnutella is a breeding ground for illegal activity. Just like the internet was a year or so back. It isn't. Unlike Freenet, Gnutella users are not anonymous.

Now comes Scour (http://www.scour.com)

This is Napster for the web - they have a downloadable app as well - how the hell they get away with it i don't know but it's definitely pushing the limits of copyright/opensource theories.

It seems that Scour are openly encouraging artists to join them (against the record companies) in a bid to win this fight.

Although the music industry battle is the most high profile example of this, the issue is far more generic than just music.

Where are we really heading?

I think the flash community has something very strong to be proud of. There are hundred of developers willing and keen to share their knowledge, and this site is a great tribute to that fact.

Open source has to be the way forward surely????

[Flashkit]

I agree, sharing is the way to go, look at some of the great projects such as dmoz.org and UNIX that have come out of open source, I think its a great foundation!

Mark
Webmaster

[Kraken]

Very touchy subject. In the music business, like ours as designers, the property that they sell isn't a tangible thing...it's more an experience...it's their skills as performers, designers, musicians, etc.

How do you keep enough control on what you are doing so your ideas don't get stolen and go hungry? But then, how do we progress if we can't help each other out?

But, then there are the people who have a VERY good thing going, getting paid millions to do what they do...and then some punks come and undercut them and start to take it all away. Does it all come down to money? Do you have to sell a million records, or have a 2-million-dollar client, to be considered an artist? Can't you just open up your style and your source and still earn enough to live comfortably? Can't you still innovate and grow without a limo and that ski-chalet in Switzerland?

I don't know. I just know that without this open-source website, ie. the downloadable FLAs, I sure wouldn't know as much as I do now about flash. Are some people going to rip those off and try to pass them as their own? Maybe. But, I believe that we can police that, and for the most part, those who would steal such things are not a threat...

whaddya think?
I'm going to bed,
Rich
http://www.richpaul.com