Open Competition
Moffitt and Montgomery aren't the only ones trying to push the envelope in Internet multimedia. The Kendra project, launched in June, consists of 102 organizations working together to develop an open architecture transport system for the distribution of high-bandwidth video content over the Internet.
Daniel Harris, director of Cerbernet, an Atlantic Telecom company, is one of the founders of Kendra. He emphasizes that Kendra should be characterized as "open architecture" rather than "open source," because the project is designed to appeal to both the free software community and the commercial one. "Open architecture means that both commercial and free (open source) groups can write software for Kendra. The aim is to encourage all code writers (whether for money or for love) to write code for Kendra," he writes via e-mail.
| For Newly Initiated: An Open Source Primer The term "open source" refers to software designed to be used and changed freely by consumers and developers. Open source code is usually distributed to developers over the Internet, and applications are governed by a type of license not normally applied in the commercial software world: one which requires that all users receive the source code. ...
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The goal, according to the Kendra Web site (www.kendra.org.uk), is to "improve the viewing experience (reducing Net congestion) by hosting the content as close to the viewer as possible." To achieve that, Kendra is pushing for all content delivery network players, Internet service providers and telecommunications companies to share content over their networks, thereby pushing the content closer to the edge and the end-user.
The entertainment industry needs a content distribution platform similar to file-sharing service Napster, which makes access to music content easy. "There is no equivalent easy-to-use alternative that allows you to pay for the content. Wouldn't it just be better to say, ‘Heck, let's give people a viable alternative to Napster, where they can get what they want, when they want it, and pay for it?' Some time ago a poll was taken of Napster users on whether they would be prepared to pay for the content, and a significant number of them said that they would. Let's get real here. Let's earn some money," he says. "Kendra is about building a system that makes money."
Such a system would also make it easier for artists, record labels and film/video production houses and distributors to sell their content over the Internet, Harris explains. Such a solution exists today only in parts, he says.
Like Moffitt and Montgomery, Harris' group also aims to appeal to artists and content creators. "The personal motivations are that I want to go home and watch or listen to what I want, when I want, and be able to pay for it. Because I know if I don't feed the artist, then there won't be any art," says Harris.
Montgomery feels the same way. "We want everyone to come along and make lots of money off of Net music. But there has to be something in place to make sure, on the technical side -- and on the side of the people…everyone who's actually using [the Net] instead of just trying to extract money from it -- that the infrastructure works."
It's tough to know what will happen with Vorbis, but whatever the future, the open source genie is out of the bottle. Montgomery and Moffitt also say they're working on a video project as well, which could have huge implications for the industry. Nevertheless, they are optimistic about the eventual success of Vorbis. "Maybe it will continue being the niche player for some time. I'm betting on the eventual wild success," said Montgomery. "But it's certainly the case that the project's un-killable."
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