The Library Access to Music Project (LAMP) was a free music library for
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
students started by
Keith Winstein
Keith Jonathan Winstein (born 1981) is a U.S. computer scientist and journalist. He is currently a professor at Stanford University.
Previously, he was the Claude E. Shannon Research Assistant and
Joshua Mandel
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
, and funded by the MIT/Microsoft iCampus alliance. Originally launched on October 27, 2003,
it has been in continuous operation since October 25, 2004.
Using LAMP
A student wishing to use LAMP goes to the LAMP website, and selects several songs. LAMP assigns to the student a channel on MIT
Cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
(e.g. Channel 63), then begins playing the selected music on that channel for anyone to listen to.
Legal Significance
One key advantage of LAMP, in addition to its being free for its users, is the fact that any piece of music is in theory available on it because
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
law is more lax about broadcasting over analog transmissions, such as MIT Cable, than it is about digital transmissions such as those made over computer networks.
For example, a person wanting to transmit a copy of "... Baby One More Time", written by
and performed by
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
, could do it either with an analog transmission or a digital transmission. Using an analog transmission would only require permission from
BMG BMG may refer to:
Organizations
* Music publishing companies:
** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008
*** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...
, the publisher, whereas use of a digital transmission would require Spears's permission as well.
This aspect of copyright law is problematic for those wishing to transmit songs by artists such as
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
. Their label,
Apple Corps
Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pro ...
, as well as others, typically do not allow digital transmissions of their music, which is why their songs were not available on online music stores such as
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
until late 2010. However, songs by The Beatles are available on LAMP, since LAMP doesn't require Apple Corps's permission.
Initially, MIT purchased audio from
LoudEye, Inc., in MP3 form. However, on the day of LAMP's initial launch,
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
approached Loudeye with concerns that it lacked the necessary licenses to make the MP3s that were sold to MIT.
Without music, LAMP was forced to go on a hiatus of about one year, until a different method of obtaining music was devised.
LAMP in its current incarnation requires someone to purchase a physical CD and place it in a CD jukebox, where it is then turned into an MP3. However, ripping MP3s of individual songs at will is still legally questionable, so LAMP takes advantage of the "ephemeral recording" provision of copyright law. Under this provision, consumers can create a "transmission program" so long as it is designed to be played back as a whole, in sequence. LAMP currently uses "transmission programs" that are approximately 30 minutes in length.
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Technical information
LAMP is appropriately built with LAMP
Lamp, Lamps or LAMP may refer to:
Lighting
* Oil lamp, using an oil-based fuel source
* Kerosene lamp, using kerosene as a fuel
* Electric lamp, or light bulb, a replaceable component that produces light from electricity
* Light fixture, or li ...
technologies. That is to say, it runs on Linux machines, uses an Apache webserver, a MySQL database, and Perl and PHP. Portions of the software are also written in C++.
References
External links
Official WebsiteTaran Baran Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Library Access To Music Project
Music organizations based in the United States
American music websites
Music libraries