The Allied Powers: Napsterites and Xiph.org
 

Xiph.org are the guys behind the Ogg Vorbis project, among others, and they really seem to have their act together. It says it all on the About Xiph.Org page:

"Commercial music is faced with extinction only as long as it refuses to adapt, as long as it refuses to loosen its grip on the endless easy profits it believes it is entitled to. The industry is not acting to protect artists or the artists' interests (bards, musicians and storytellers thrived long before there was an industry to 'protect' them), it is not acting to prevent musicians from being 'driven out of business' (it impoverishes artists itself); it is acting to preserve the status quo and its own profit-inflated bulk. It's quite possible for the music industry to refashion itself, but rather than evolving and thriving in a new niche, the Dinosaurs, staggering under their own smothering weight, are trying to legislate the Mammals out of existence."

It looks like some of us are fighting the p2p wars on the media/content front while others are fighting on the technology front. A decentralized p2p network alone won't solve these problems, open media formats will be necessary as well.

Thanks for the post, Mazer & ditto on your comments! :tu:

Free and open media formats are essential for the p2p revolution indeed, and it is great to see that dedicated work is also being done on that front for our common good. :AP: :AP:

- tg ;)

Diversity keeps the net dynamic. One or two formats = stagnation.
Props to the guys behind the scenes working for free to keep things interesting. It's always great to see a handful of programmers competing against a huge staff of people working for a major company...and winning. :)