Hello.

In learning to manage the playlist from playlist.com that I've embedded in our classcreator site, I've concluded that I need a separate storage for purchased MP3s. My other primary sites have hosted those pieces. But the sites are community or social media based. They go down periodically, which then breaks the links to the playlist.com player embedded in my classcreator site.

Hence, I would like to rent a separately styled space for about 200 MP3s on Classcreator that I will transfer to the additional facility. That many MP3 songs, plus, storage for video's created from reunion activities, will put me (the site under class creator) way over the storage limit that attends the creator site. I would like to use the WestburyHSHouton.com domain name with proper directory instructions as the primary linking URL.

If this requires a separate economic arrangement, that, too, is expected and easy to establish from my side. Money is not the issue. Link stability in playlist and video presentations is.

Sincerely,

Jesse Skip Collins

Correct. The current sites used for MP3 and video storage ARE NOT community social media based.

A lot of people are using the new stuff, like the Gallery Creator and MP3 Generator and so forth, which is good. So for the first time in our history we're starting to have a mass problem with people hitting their File Vault limit -- something that happened next to never prior to the new features. While we do have a system in place to purchase more File Vault space in increments of 50 megs @ $3/mo, which we're getting complaints about due to being too expensive, and many people are requesting significantly higher storage...

Anyway the long and the short of it is we can only offer so much for $9/mo. It's seamless and not known to most users but your images are all saved on and served from the Amazon.com cloud. MP3s and videos too. There is a microcent charge for every transfer. So when people upload way more stuff, transfer costs go way up. For this reason I think we're going to introduce a new membership level that has 500% more File Vault space for $179/mo. Along with it we want to solve another major and common complaint, and that is one of not wanting class wide emails to come from our email address. To make that happen you have to have a true POP3 email box on this same server with Reverse DNS and so forth. True email hosting comes with a cost and a support cost. I think we can bundle the increased storage space and also offer the true POP3 email boxes in the $179/year package. While many won't ever need this, it will be a very suitable option for the "power users" so to speak who want to do more with their sites than the average user. We *may* be able to work a true FTP system into this too, I'm checking into that. Open to other suggestions here.

NOTE: I need to mention here that anyone adding MP3s to their site using the new MP3 player should exercise caution. Most music is copyrighted and posting it on your web site is a form of distribution. You are responsible for the content you place on your web site, and placing copyrighted music without distribution rights can get you in trouble. We posted this same warning right on the MP3 upload utility itself so it cannot be missed. I just want to make this fact abundantly clear. While we won't be policing any mp3 content and couldn't do so anyway, the primary intent of the new MP3 widget is for loading band songs, choir songs, school fight songs, or other school or Classmate recordings that you have the right to distribute.

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Did you mean $179/year?

Heh, yes. Although we'll happily accept $179/mo. too.

Brad, I will most likely take advantage of the proposed $179/YEAR if you do this. Although, I was able to clean my vault use pretty nicely and am back down from 90% to something like 45%.

However, I do intend to add some MP3 files, and expect after my Reunion to have MUCH more video (although, I could host those on my new VIMEO system that will handle something like 5 gig...

However, if I add more MP3, I have a hypothetical question. Since I own and run a Windows 2003 Server that operates 24/7, could I in theory store and map my own MP3 files to ClassCreator via a URL? I have over 300 gig of storaage available on that server. I recognize there are downsides of that anyway, like our electric power goes down in the mountains here sometimes for more than a day.

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One of our classmates maintains that there may be an issue with the rights to distribute certain choir arrangements as well, even though they are performed by non-professional high school singers. Does anyone know if this is an accurate concern?

Yes, you'll note the MP3 Playlist Generator includes the ability to point to any MP3 on any web server -- you don't have to upload the MP3 to File Vault.

[quote="Ruth Music"]
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Ruth,

Your classmate is quite correct! The original "SOURCE" of that music is what is (or should be) of utmost concern. This is one time where I believe Brad & company has opened Pandora's box and while he has constantly (and diligently) been explaining this problem of uploading MP3's are not the responsibility of CC, that it is the person(s) doing the uploads, I (personally) question how many admins even understand copyrights and how much it could cost them if someone from the Musicians Union were to go after them for Copyright infringement. I've yet to see more than a small handful of Marching Band music to be exempt of any Copyright Laws and I already know at what expense it comes at if caught. Just like many of the cartoons that are posted on websites are a direct violation of Copyright Law.

I will continue to utilize services such as Playlist.com although sometimes inconvenient--sue happy people--I don't need breathing down my neck.

Good response John. I'm a little concerned about the "pandora's box" myself... Of course uploading mp3s was possible prior to this, we've just made it easier. Same thing applies though to copyrighted content, videos, images, songs, cartoons like you mentioned, clip art and virtually anything else you didn't create or own the rights to. When you're a Webmaster (which all of you are here) you have to take proper precautions when publishing anything on a web site. We should probably make a better effort to educate people about that, and include this fact in our upcoming Help Video for the MP3 Playlist Generator.

"Copyrights & Copy Wrongs" A good topic for a break-out session at the C-4 (Chicago Class Creator Conference) next year.

Outstanding. Save.

[quote="John Christman"][quote="Ruth Music"]
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You know what. You are absolutely right. You never know who might "turn you in". Yes, the website can be secured by a password, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Perhaps a classmate not expecting a problem shows another friend some of the music available while classmate is logged in. Perhaps that friend is a professional musician....bingo! For that matter, I know that one of my own classmates is a professional musician.........maybe it is a bad day and he decides he doesn't like me anymore.

Besides that, we have all talked about it so much on the forum, we now have a rather large paper trail so to speak. I don't really like Bread and Water, and I sure don't look good in Stripes.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Brad (Coach John too), I don't want to put any kind of damper on this subject and your planned topic of discussion at the "C-4," however not everyone will be in attendance at your C-4. If it is next year (2011), depending on location, it's unlikely I won't be there either. Brad, I don't know if you have discussed this issue with legal counsel as far as your liability might be concerned if some site admin receives one of those "legal" notices, but it would seem to me a very strong & distinct "Published Disclaimer" in a few prominent places should be posted in order to protect the innocent. I'm not an attorney, but I have received two of those "legal" notices in my lifetime and don't wish to ever receive another. Thus, I tend to err on the side of caution!

When in ChiTown John..any ideas where you are going to hold the seminars??? I hope you make it near O'Hare!!!

Thanks John. I'll probably review it all again, but when people first make a site here the very first thing they do before being allowed to do anything at all is electronically sign our Terms & Conditions (happens on the last step of the Member Wizard, and yes I realize virtually nobody reads it but it protects Class Creator anyway). In those terms the Root Admin takes full responsibility for anything he or she publishes to the web site. So again, this goes far beyond MP3 music. This applies to MP3s, video, straight text content, cartoons, clip art, pictures, etc. If you publish a web site and you plagiarize anything at all, then you're potentially opening yourself up to legal problems. I believe our T&C's already cover Class Creator and we can't publish legal disclaimers absolutely everywhere in admin, but I did make the decision to post the legal tip directly on the MP3 player because I think it's probably more prone to abuse and simple naivety than anything else. Many people have the incorrect perception that if they purchase a song from iTunes or similar music service that they now own the song and can republish it on their site. I do realize some people will knowingly abuse this anyway. but we have little control over nor time to police content people publish. Anybody with the knowhow could grab off the shelf html authoring software such as Adobe Dreamweaver and publish copyrighted content just as easily. In the end people have to know better and respect copyright law.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Brad, Thanks!
I was fairly sure you had your bases covered. I just felt that it needed to be spelled out here on this thread you did just that in your posting above. After all your "hosting service" is several steps ABOVE the so-called competition, with your very proactive influence. As I've mentioned before, I've never in all my years of working with web-hosting services ever found the owner of such company have such a fond dedication to helping his clients the way you do and that our one big happy (very happy) family needs to keep their eyes open at all times.

Thanks again for all that YOU and your ENTIRE staff do to keep things rolling so smoothly! Just let me know if/when your company goes public will you please!

Heh, will do John. And thank you. I've pondered getting investment money together to create the other Creators faster. Always a delicate line between control and ability to get stuff out there quicker. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing but I usually fall more on the control side, which means things go a little slower sometimes but at least I'm in control of it. My fear is that the influence of others (investors) could mess up what we have here. This is a very unique place and I kinda like it that way.

Webmaster Darlene wrote:

Just keepin' the dream alive. No firm plans.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Lot to be said for holding on to what you've got - including the give and take like this with front-line users of your product/service. Priceless.

'cour$e there'$ lot$ to be $aid for ca$hing out, too -- e$pecially when you're on top!

Brad Switzer wrote:

The ONLY way to do that would be with a LIMITED partnership. No other way will get you what you are looking for, unless it is with an unconditional GIFT. (Now that's the legal stuff).

For the realistic--John Chidester has it RIGHT! May be slower, sure! Just remember "HASTE makes WASTE"

How do we order the extra 50 mb of space, and when will the $179/year option be available?

Thanks

Susan,

Since your website is still in TRIAL mode, you only get "13.40 MB of available 25 MB (at 53.59% of File Vault capacity)". When you subscribe (click your SUBSCRIPTION link), then you will get 200 MB of storage. With that kind of storage, it will probably be a while before you need the $179 a year plan.

You could start out at the $97 per year (200 MB storage) and then when you need it, upgrade to the $179 a year plan if you want to.

Kyle

The $179/year is still in the works. When it is available, it will show up on the SUBSCRIPTION link. Probably will see ClassCreator 3.0 first because we are anxious to get that delivered.

Thanks, Kyle. I subscribed this morning.

Does anyone know who you would go about obtaining distribution rights for the music. Has anyone contacted ASCAP or BMI to see what it would cost? Just curious.

At a guess, they won't bother with a small request - overhead cost to deal with this is too high. I think it is tied to how many times you play a song. Remember the internet "radio" station protests when they wanted to raise the song prices last year?

As for MP3/Video storage: There are also other alternatives to more storage - from free to not very expensive - 1GB is about the minimum and 5GB is common if you pay. Paying usually gets you better streaming (aka bandwidth).