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Kendra Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a question then you can email them to one of our 4 email discussion lists or you can post them on our Wiki. Here are some of the more frequently asked questions:
- Q. Will the content be shared or secure?
- A. These are not mutually exclusive ideas. Also, they can mean many different things to many different people. For example you can have systems for sharing files that are extremely secure. The exact specification for the final Kendra System is unknown because that's what we're doing here: building Kendra System. In terms of the Kendra Catalogue Trial the idea is to first enable content owners to list themselves as participating. Then we'll ask them to publish their catalogue info/metadata. So, no actual content publishing at this stage, just descriptions of the content. But it's vital that we get people on board now to discuss requirements and show support. If we can't get these people we can't build the Kendra System because we wont know what it needs to be.
- Putting content online comes a little later. Each piece of content will have rules associated with it (see: Kendra Rules Trial) that will describe what people can do with the content and the way it behaves.
- Back to the question... Your content may end up being mirrored or located (sounds like sharing to me) on a number of servers around the globe. Remember the closer the content is to the end user the better quality delivery they will get whether streamed or downloaded. But you can set this criteria the way you want. So, if you only want people to be able to get a piece of content from one place (and so no mirroring) then that goes in the rules. You decide.
- Security is a big issue right now but nothing is ever totally secure. And when someone views your film they'll always be able to record it and re-encode it no matter how much "security" there is. So, to my mind, the issue is more about making it easy to pay for the film and making it available in any format on any device. People pay for convenience. If your main priority is not getting paid but restricting people's use then you're going to have a tough life. But I think you'll want the cash, yes?
- Q. How will access to the content work?
- A. Personally, I want to be able to access content via and application, interface or device but that's a while away. For the trial we'll probably have something very simple as with the current Kendra Network Trial demo.
- Q. Is there / will there be a fee for the service?
- A. Kendra Initiative is hosted by the legal entity Kendra Foundation a non-profit company recently incorporated. Kendra Foundation will never charge for participation in Kendra Initiative or its associated trials. However, as with most Internet service providers, there will probably be a fee from companies providing access to or hosting on Kendra System. You'll be paying for support, Internet bandwidth and server disk space. They may charge a flat fee or may take a cut of revenue or who knows. It'll be between you and them. Kendra Initiative will never be a service provider for Kendra System related services. Kendra Initiative is about creating the system that's what we're doing here.
- Q. Will it be possible for Kendra System to support content that does not require payment? Any plans to integrate Creative Commons licenses?
- A. Absolutely! The content owner will just enter zero in the "payment amount required" field.
- The content owner will be able to choose any license they wish for their content. So, I guess that integrates with not only Creative Commons licenses but every one else's too.
- Q. How will Kendra Foundation make money in order to continue to support Kendra Initiative?
- A. Income will be derived solely from donations, grants and sponsorship. No services will be provided by Kendra Foundation in exchange for cash. Kendra Foundation will not be able to sell services or products or anything else.
Kendra Initiative
Contact Kendra Initiative - we've just moved to a new server so let us know if anything doesn't work right - thanks!
