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Date: Mon, 22 Jan 2001 12:56:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Ellen Maremont Silver <silver@oreillynet.com>
To: lwn@lwn.net
Subject: openp2p.com To Help Developers Create Next Generation Internet

For Immediate Release
January 22, 2001

For Further Information Contact
Ellen Maremont Silver
(707)829-6514
silver@oreilly.com
http://openp2p.com/

OPENP2P.COM WEB SITE AIMS TO HELP DEVELOPERS CREATE THE INTERNET'S NEXT
GENERATION 
New O'Reilly Site Covers the Fast-Moving World of Peer-to-Peer
Technologies

Sebastopol, CA--O'Reilly Network's newest technology web site,
openp2p.com, launches today with technical, analytical, and news
coverage of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology. Best known because of the
music file-sharing site Napster, Peer-to-Peer encompasses a broad
collection of technologies with far-reaching implications for Internet
and computer usage in general. Key technologies related to P2P include
Microsoft's .NET, Java, and XML. As Red Herring author Lee Bruno wrote
in a special issue on the technology, "P2P is likely to forever change
the way we think about sharing digital information across networks."

Today's issue includes:
* "The Parable of Umbrellas and Taxicabs," an essay by Clay Shirky which
suggests that the future of distributed computing will be controlled by
companies that control the desktop. Shirky writes extensively about the
social and economic effects of the Internet, and is a keynote speaker
at The O'Reilly Peer-to-Peer Conference.

* "The Power of Metadata," a technical essay by Rael Dornfest and Dan
Brickley on the need for standardized metadata on P2P systems. The
essay will be published in the O'Reilly book "Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing
the Power of Disruptive Technologies." 

* Tim O'Reilly's guide to the best sessions at O'Reilly's Peer-to-Peer
Conference, to be held February 14-16, 2001, in San Francisco.

In future weeks, the site will include interviews with Bill Joy, chief
scientist of Sun and inventor of JINI, legal expert Lawrence Lessig,
and Intel P2P advocate Bob Knighten.

openp2p.com consists of:
* Feature articles, profiles and interviews with P2P technologists and
leaders 
* Daily digest of P2P news via O'Reilly Network's groundbreaking
Meerkat, a news syndication system
* Collections of important articles and papers on P2P 
* Information on The O'Reilly P2P Conference, including coverage of the
event and content from its presenters 
* Selected essays from O'Reilly's upcoming book, "Peer-to-Peer:
Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies"
* Weekly email newsletter on the latest developments in the P2P world 
* A rich archive of the most important articles, documents, and papers
on P2P

The new site's goals are two-fold. The first is to help developers
create the P2P technology that will represent the next generation of
the Internet. The second is to help managers and executives understand
the directions that P2P is going, and how those directions will impact
information services over the Internet.

openp2p.com also features a directory of P2P companies, as well as
catalogs of important articles, white papers and proposals, in such
areas as distributed file sharing, distributed computation, instant
messaging, P2P on devices, peered web services, distributed metadata,
security, reputation and trust, performance and reliability.

O'REILLY & PEER-TO-PEER
openp2p.com is one aspect of O'Reilly & Associates' comprehensive
interest in P2P. From February 14-16, O'Reilly will host The
Peer-to-Peer Conference in San Francisco. O'Reilly's upcoming book,
"Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies," to be
released at the O'Reilly Conference, is another demonstration of the
company's interest in this influential group of technologies.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PEER-TO-PEER TECHNOLOGIES
Peer-to-Peer describes a decentralized network in which all computers
function as equals. While there are a number of variations of P2P, not
all of which strictly adhere to this definition, P2P is understood to
represent a significant shift from the client-server model which has
reigned in the computer industry for many years. P2P is already being
used for many applications besides Napster: distributed computing,
collaborative and interactive workgroups, device-to-device
communication, instant messaging, and presence management. Stanford law
professor Lawrence Lessig, author of "Code and Other Laws of
Cyberspace," has said, "P2P is the next great thing for the Internet.
We haven't even begun to understand or imagine the possibilities."

FURTHER INFORMATION
http://openp2p.com/

The Parable of Umbrellas and Taxicabs
by Clay Shirky
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/01/18/shirky_umbrellas.html

The Power of Metadata
by Rael Dornfest and Dan Brickley
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/01/18/metadata.html

Tim O'Reilly's Guide to the P2P Conference
http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2001/01/18/tim_conf.html

The O'Reilly Peer-to-Peer Conference
http://conferences.oreilly.com/p2p/

Peer-to-Peer: Harnessing the Power of Disruptive Technologies
edited by Andy Oram
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/peertopeer/

O'Reilly Network
http://www.oreillynet.com/

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