StreamCast Issues New Morpheus, Draws Harsh Criticism
File sharing giant StreamCast launched a new version of its software last weekend after millions of Morpheus users were locked out of the Kazaa-owned network it had previously accessed. The new Morpheus is instead based completely on the decentralized Gnutella network, the controversial brainchild of AOL/Nullsoft employees. But the change has not fared well for the company, as Morpheus users had grown accustomed to quick searches and reliable downloads that come with a centralized architecture and are now connecting to alternate services - namely KaZaA and Grokster.
StreamCast had been planning to add Gnutella support into its client for some time, but Kazaa BV -- the company that licenses StreamCast and Grokster its software -- refused to supply StreamCast with the required version 1.5 update claiming it had never been paid. StreamCast cried foul last week when the network upgrade rendered Morpheus inoperable and its users scratching their heads. Morpheus became much more popular than both its counterparts, because it lacks the "spyware" advertising that exists in KaZaA and Grokster.
Forced to find an alternative, StreamCast turned to the open source Gnutella client, Gnucleus, written by college student John Marshall. The company slightly modified the program to include advertising and announced that an update was available. "We are pleased to migrate to an open protocol product with the release of Morpheus Preview Edition, which is based on the very large network of Gnutella users," said StreamCast Chief Executive Steve Griffin in a statement.
Although StreamCast violated no license agreements in using the Gnucleus code base, many open source advocates were upset that StreamCast made no effort to notify anyone. On the Gnucleus Web site Marshall wrote, "I don't even know what to think, I wish they contacted me or any of the other gnutella developers or protocol maintainers before doing this. Gnucleus is a honest, well written client. Please don't let this action by StreamCast tarnish your impression of us." However, he noted, "As long as they post their source code and credit us in the program I don't have a problem with this."
Morpheus users have not been so receptive to the change, however. Download sites sporting the new release have been flooded by negative reviews and harsh comments. Griffin tried to appease users in a message on the Morpheus Web site.
"KEEP IN MIND that this is only our preview edition. Any time change occurs, many object and think the old version was better. Our objective is to create a new and exciting software product. Since our company and your p2p network are being attacked, we would appreciate your constructive comments for improvement, not simply criticisms. With you help and input, we will continue to provide the pre-eminent p2p software product in the world," he wrote.
Unsurprisingly, KaZaA has opted to benefit from its competitor's problems. The company released a "Morpheus Migration Tool," which allows former Morpheus users to easily import their settings into KaZaA Media Desktop. The KaZaA Web site now reads: "Morpheus users, come on over to our place...you'll feel quite at home."