Scour Exchange, a service that once rivalled Napster by offering
file-swapping services, has been revived from bankruptcy with a new
copyright-friendly business model. Its owner is dubbing it the
first secure and legal peer-to-peer (P2P) digital distribution
solution.
The original Scour business went bankrupt due to the cost of
fighting similar copyright lawsuits to those faced by Napster. Its
service offered the swapping of any type of file, including movies
and music, without any protection for copyright owners.
Consequently, it faced the legal wrath of both industries.
US-based CenterSpan Communications is a developer of P2P
software technologies and bought Scour’s assets in bankruptcy in
December 2000. It yesterday announced it has released a beta
version of a revised Scour Exchange that incorporates secure and
legal distribution technology for the delivery of digital
entertainment.
A controlled beta group has begun testing the system. Later this
year, a fee-based service will be launched.
CenterSpan says its architecture is the first to integrate
support for digital rights management solutions (DRM) into a
peer-to-peer digital distribution channel to protect copyright
owners.
It is also the first to make peer network files visible to standard
search engines. Each downloadable file that will be available in
Scour Exchange is "wrapped" in a secure DRM package that allows its
distribution to be tracked and controlled. The beta environment
will feature the Microsoft Windows Media DRM.
The company is negotiating with music and video content
providers for fee-based content. Convincing copyright owners to
grant it licences will likely be a difficult hurdle to clear.
