[Randman]

not worth the trouble with people here.

[analogika]

Not to harsh your vibe here, but I'm going to postulate that this thread is exactly why this service is going to get closed down withing four weeks.

[Randman]

You can invite up to 30 people.

[Railroader]

How is this service legal?

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

How is this service legal?

Hence my post above.

[Randman]

My take. Apple has cleared it as an App in the App store. After the Netshare fiasco, I would think they are vetting things more closely. As long as Apple offers this App, I'm using it. Mostly to listen to my own stuff when I'm working the third shift at my company's Web site. The ability to share with others is a nice perk and I thought we could try that there (MacRumours, for instance has about a 10-page thread doing this very thing). If Apple removes the App, I'll stop using it.

I have never used warez or pirated music. I'm not doing that now. But w/e.

[Zeeb]

If it ends up being legal what a great way to partially get around the limited capacity on the iphone. It would be great if it worked for movies too--does it?

[Randman]

Movies would be illegal under current DRM rules.

[analogika]

I'm pretty sure that sharing your library with others constitutes unauthorised broadcast, which is most definitely prohibited without paying licensing fees.

In its legal aspects, this is pretty much exactly the same feature as iTunes Library Sharing was before Apple was forced to make it local-subnet-only.

There should be no legal problem at all with streaming stuff from your own home machine to your own mobile devices, but threads like this one, soliciting unauthorized sharing, are exactly why this service will be shut down in a matter of weeks (which sucks, because I think being able to stream to your own iPhone is a *great* idea).

[Peter]

great idea - "Hejog" no music currently, am in process of moving house. ....

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by analogika 

I'm pretty sure that sharing your library with others constitutes unauthorised broadcast, which is most definitely prohibited without paying licensing fees.

In its legal aspects, this is pretty much exactly the same feature as iTunes Library Sharing was before Apple was forced to make it local-subnet-only.

There should be no legal problem at all with streaming stuff from your own home machine to your own mobile devices, but threads like this one, soliciting unauthorized sharing, are exactly why this service will be shut down in a matter of weeks (which sucks, because I think being able to stream to your own iPhone is a *great* idea).

Agreed. It is a cool idea, I'd love to be able to access my entire music library while away from home, but it is the sharing among "friends" that gets things all muddy legally. Perhaps if Apple limited this app to only one connection, and not 30.

[Randman]

But Apple doesn't. Geez, another reason this place is going under.

[Railroader]

*You're a real gem, aren't you.

Apple didn't write the software. I predict it will get pulled from the app store.

*EDIT: This comment was uncalled for and rude. I am sorry I made it, please forgive me.

[::maroma::]

Big rumor is that Apple is working on doing something like this themselves. If this is true, I would think it would not allow sharing of any library but your own to your own device (iPhone/iPod Touch). I'm going to wait it out for a month or so and see how it shakes down. I don't want to invest any time in getting to know and love a product that may either be replaced or removed within a few weeks.

But great idea for an app. It is something I think Apple should include within the iPod app itself. Just a section that says "Home Library" or something. Not a separate app, so that you can play the music while doing other things on your iPhone/iPod Touch. One big problem I see with this app is that if you want to play a game, or check email or whatever you have to stop listening to the music. Unless they've figured out some way to get around that (I haven't used this app yet).

[Randman]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

You're a real gem, aren't you.

Apple didn't write the software. I predict it will get pulled from the app store.

No, you are.

As I said (lock of reading comprehension), if Apple pulls the App, I won't use the desktop. Until then, it's a brilliant thing to use.

[ph0ust]

has anyone researched the company? it is venture backed by sierra and has solid mgt talent. not exactly a fly by night operation someone cooked up in his/her spare time.

they also don't allow "broadcast" as analogica says. that certainly would be illegal. instead, they allow people to share directly with others. this is like me lending a cd to one of you.... there isn't a transfer of ownership or use in perpetuity.

sharing service aside, this is a great idea that allows any of us to get our own music from anywhere.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by ph0ust 

has anyone researched the company? it is venture backed by sierra and has solid mgt talent. not exactly a fly by night operation someone cooked up in his/her spare time.

they also don't allow "broadcast" as analogica says. that certainly would be illegal. instead, they allow people to share directly with others. this is like me lending a cd to one of you.... there isn't a transfer of ownership or use in perpetuity.

30 people can stream music from my home library.

Whether you call it "broadcast" or something else, it's the technical equivalent of having on-demand broadcast with thirty slots.

[Randman]

Originally Posted by analogika 

30 people can stream music from my home library.

Whether you call it "broadcast" or something else, it's the technical equivalent of having on-demand broadcast with thirty slots.

Not according to Apple's legal team, it appears. It's been out almost a week and the only QQing I've seen anywhere is from your and your followers. If it is indeed as evil as you claim, why not the outrage all over? Why hasn't Apple pulled this yet? Why? Why? Why?

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Randman 

Not according to Apple's legal team, it appears. It's been out almost a week and the only QQing I've seen anywhere is from your and your followers. If it is indeed as evil as you claim, why not the outrage all over? Why hasn't Apple pulled this yet? Why? Why? Why?

"Me and my followers"?

Um, sure, Randman...
:: backs away from the "short bus" ::

All I was saying (and you apparently missed) was that I LOVE the idea, but I don't think it'll be allowed to live, which sucks.

How you construe that to be an attack on you, or an endorsement of the RIAA and equivalents, or some sort of crusade against this service, is completely beyond me.


Now that that's out of the way...

I don't think it's up to Apple's store approval system to verify disputable legal aspects of distributed apps. In obvious cases, they're going to block distribution from the start, of course, but in a gray-ish area like this one...in the end, the service providers are responsible for their service and must answer to any recording industry henchmen. I have no idea how they've figured this.

Counter-question: How is this service *different* from Apple's iTunes Library Sharing when it was still wide open?

[Simon]

How come some people on this board, cannot disagree without nasty little stabs like

Originally Posted by Railroader 

You're a real gem, aren't you.

Originally Posted by analogika

Um, sure, Randman...
:: backs away from the "short bus" ::

What the hell is the matter? Why make it personal when you can just argue content? Is keeping it civil that hard? Is factual arguing too overstraining?

[ewiser]

This software has been around since last fall. iTunes use to let you do this all the time before the iTunes store was around. Nice that they brought out a iPhone version.
Now you can keep your iTunes library in one spot and access all your music even on the go. I would bet it eats up the battery thou using 3G.

[::maroma::]

Jeez guys, no need to get all snippy over this app. Its just an app. Its not that controversial.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Simon 

How come some people on this board, cannot disagree without nasty little stabs like





What the hell is the matter? Why make it personal when you can just argue content? Is keeping it civil that hard? Is factual arguing too overstraining?

You missed one. The first one. Why is that?

Originally Posted by randman

But Apple doesn't. Geez, another reason this place is going under.

I saw an insult and responded in kind (I'll admit, it was uncalled for and I will apologize).

[Eug]

Originally Posted by ::maroma:: 

Big rumor is that Apple is working on doing something like this themselves.

Welcome to iTunes 4.0. Too bad they removed it in 4.0.1.