[LINK] Qtrax

Rick Welykochy rick at praxis.com.au
Sun Jun 22 19:24:54 AEST 2008


Rick Welykochy wrote:

> stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:
> 
>> Regarding Qtrax:  http://www.qtrax.com/ and http://www.qtrax.com/AU/
>>
>> "Qtrax is the world’s first free and legal peer-to-peer (P2P) digital
>> music site.
> 
> A few observations.
[SNIP]

A few more observations.

This is *not* a P2P "music site". That is an oxymoronic term. This is
a classic client-server downloading system.

With a catch. From their FAQ:

   "You can then play these files anytime you want in the Qtrax player.
    You must be online to play Qtrax files."

They still don't get it, do they?

As if sitting logged into your own account on your own download
computer to play music is going to fly.

I wonder how long it will take to crack this sort of "bricking"?

I think the protocol analysers are going to be running overtime
for the next few weeks.

It is only a matter of time (days?) before Qtrax music files are
streamed outside of their little sandbox into the big bad world.

Wait a minute, there is a security FAQ:

   "Are the music files downloaded through Qtrax encoded with
    Digital Rights Management (DRM)?

    Yes.  DRM allows Qtrax to insure that artists and record labels
    are properly compensated for their work.  DRM means that you can
    play these music files on your computer or any Windows Mobile
    devices that you own.  However, you cannot directly transfer these
    files to other users.  At the same time, you are always free to
    share these files with other users via Qtrax by sending them a
    direct link to download the file.  Agreements with the various
    music rights’ holders allow Qtrax to leverage the power of P2P
    in a way that is 100% legal."

So you can play the files offline. But only with a Windows mobile
device. What, no iPod support? Of course not. The DRM would break.

You cannot directly transfer to another user. Oh wait, you can,
via P2P technology. Oh, no you can't. You can only send them a
link to the file so they can download using client-server. So it
ain't P2P. Or is it?

Right.

I think the marketing dept should let the techies proof read their
copy before writing stuff like the above.

cheers
rickw


-- 
________________________________________________________________
Rick Welykochy || Praxis Services || Internet Driving Instructor

A lie can travel halfway around the world
while the truth is putting on its shoes.
      -- Mark Twain



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