Filter foiling company gives up expectation of ad revenue for pig Latin software

A student-owned college press isn’t worried that its new Napster-foiling software won’t generate any revenues. The software, which turns music titles into pig Latin to slip through Napster’s new filtering technology, was created in four days. James Chillcott of PulseNewMedia says their tool can be used to disguise any type of file in transit. Even if Napster is sunk by U.S. courts, similar programs will benefit from the privacy afforded by the Encoder. Earlier this month, Napster began the tedious process of removing thousands of copyrighted song titles from its lists. On March 8, Pulse made headlines across the country when it released its NapCameBack Encoder, which enables Napster users to continue swapping their favourite copyrighted songs by changing the song titles into pig Latin. Pulse staff thought they’d found a captive audience of millions of addicted users. The not-for-profit company is now looking at other potential uses for its software. Napster’s new filters work by stopping searches on file names according to lists supplied by the record labels. Since the searches work on file names – usually the same as song titles – Pulse developed a simple encryption scheme that turns file names in user libraries into pig Latin for the purposes of searching. Tens of thousands of people have already downloaded the application from the NapCameBack site, rendering their libraries transparent to other users of the software and preserving the functionality of the Napster application. The Encoder was the result of a brainstorming session by Pulse staff who saw an opportunity to take advantage of Napster’s popularity. A similar service in the U.S. was quickly shut down by Napster officials, leaving Pulse’s system the only one on the market. When first conceived, the Encoder was built with a window for advertising, but Chillcott says initial hopes for a revenue stream are no longer realistic. "We looked at this as an ideological play. We certainly expected that we’d be able to find online advertising, but, to be honest, that hasn’t happened," he told Canadian NEW MEDIA. "We’ve talked to all the major advertising agencies, or a large portion of them, here in Canada and the U.S., and it’s a soft market right now. A lot of these companies are in danger of folding or are maxxed out on their inventories… We’re still negotiating, but so far we’re not going to make a profit on this. It’s a not-for-profit bid for attention for us." Owned fully by the Scarborough College Student Press Inc, and the full time students of the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, the Encoder is a sideline to PulseNewMedia’s main business as a not-for-profit website designer. Director Jordan Klassen and Chillcott oversee a team of 26 programmers whose web design work – sometimes free for campus organizations – provides about 70 per cent of the revenue needed to support Pulse Magazine, an independent University of Toronto campus organ. The company was launched in December 2000, and earns some revenue acting as a sub-contractor for private sector design firms. Chillcott says plans to expand Pulse Magazine to other campuses across the country through a central portal are still being developed, though U of T officials have to be convinced no university money will go to support the project off-campus. U of T officials, says Chillcott, are staying mum for the time being about the Encoder and the significant press Pulse has generated. He guesses they’re pleased with the attention its garnered for the school, though they may not be happy with the legally shaky ground on which it stands. "The U of T expects us to fight our own legal battles," he says. "On the Napster basis, we’ve been clever marketing it to Napster users, but we have never said to Napster users: break copyright law. We’ve said: protect your music. Because, essentially, the Napster filters are preventing people from moving files back and forth that they legitimately own."

Filter foiling company gives up expectation of ad revenue for pig Latin software

Broadcast | March 22, 2001

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