Yes, you read the headline correctly! A Dutch company has developed the worlds first media center that gets its content from P2P networks. The hardware, called Lamabox, gets content from P2P networks such as eDonkey, Fasttrack (Kazaa), Gnutella, Overnet and also has BitTorrent support. The developers have said that they know the product is "somewhat controversial" but are relying on a past court case to protect them from any legal troubles.
The court case actually was the Supreme Court's ruling on Kazaa (when it was Netherlands-based). The ruling only classifies the uploading of copyrighted material as illegal. However, the company has set aside some money for legal defense just in case. The hardware was presented at a consumer trade show in Utrecht last week. It is basically a hard disk drive that plugs into your TV that has search and download support for the P2P networks.
What makes this even more offensive to the entertainment industry is that it has a "P2P Spider" that constantly searches out new content; making the procedure automatic if the user wishes it. Music or movies can then be selected on the TV screen for playback. The first LamaBox (with 40 GB) will sell for €279. A 400 GB version with a DVD burner will cost €479.
The company said it has had a lot of interest particularly from foreign countries. Supply is limited however, as each of these devices is handmade. I think the question of whether or not this company will face legal action from the entertainment industry should be changed to "when" it will.
Source:
The Register
What makes this even more offensive to the entertainment industry is that it has a "P2P Spider" that constantly searches out new content; making the procedure automatic if the user wishes it. Music or movies can then be selected on the TV screen for playback. The first LamaBox (with 40 GB) will sell for €279. A 400 GB version with a DVD burner will cost €479.
The company said it has had a lot of interest particularly from foreign countries. Supply is limited however, as each of these devices is handmade. I think the question of whether or not this company will face legal action from the entertainment industry should be changed to "when" it will.
Source:
The Register
