Lost amidst the hype and hoopla around the Web 2.0 is an inherent truth: the web is not the Internet, but instead a part of the Internet. Internet relay chats, email, peer-to-peer networks, and the dark web are all part of the Internet and account for more data traffic than the web. And then there is the Usenet – vanished from public memory, but still thriving, throbbing with activity. When people think of Usenet, they think of text – not multimedia. Sure the torrent-nets and eDonkey’s get all the attention, many don’t know that organic nature of the Usenet has made it relatively a treasure trove of videos, files, images and other multimedia content.
I recently had a chance to meet with a company called GUBA, and well they are literally a stone’s throw away from my apartment in downtown San Francisco. The company had started way back in 1998 by former Apple and Sony executives. Born smack in middle of the biggest funding orgy of out lives, the company chose to do it alone, and set about to building a graphical interface for the Usenet. At the time there were a lot of standalone clients like GigaNews that could be used to access the Usenet content.
GUBA wanted to make everything simpler, and use the browser as a window on to the Usenet. But instead of focusing on text, which was a big part of what DejaNews (now part of Google), GUBA decided to make a play for finding rich media in the Usenet groups. “We wanted it to be a subscription service, ” says Thomas Mcinerney, who started the company with Eric Lambrecht. “ISPs used to charge for Usenet and well, that’s what we thought was the business model.”
“A lot of people ask is Usenet is relevant,” says Mcinerney, “It is still very dynamic, even though it is not indexed by major search engines. A lot of people have forgotten about it.” He points out that nearly 2 terrabytes of data is added to the usenet every day, and it still is the liveliest community on the Internet. “Linux was first posted by linus on Usenets but then the web came along and fractured the internet in many ways.”
Here is what Guba does:
* Crawls Usenet for multimedia content, indexing over 300,000 files a day (currently only videos and images).
* Automatically indexes the content via metadata tags, so it can be easily viewed, sorted, filtered and searched.
* Universal playback – converts video content from any format so that users can immediately play the video, eliminating the need for different
players/Codec’s.
Talking about the doom-days, Mcinerney says, “We did not do any crazy parties. we used to wonder if we were missing out on action. we were kind of vindicated when the bubble burst.” He points out that the company has tens of thousands of customers who pay $15 a month for their service, and have helped the company grow organically and become solidly profitable. Surprisingly the service has been around for so long, but the company has only now decided to come out of the shadows.
Why? Are these guys crazy and are willing to invite the ire of the entire movie industry? Have they not seen what has happened to the others in the past? “I think we are taking a calculated risk in going public. Sure its risky, but there is a payoff ,” says Mcinerney. “We would like to work with the studios and the Yahoo and Google. ”
“I think it is a significant that our consumers pay for content, though it is unlimited content,” he offers as a defense. “There is actual strong demand for the product. I want to work with content companies to become a distribution channel.” He even wants to distribute ring-tones, and offer stuff using Flash-format. He offers the DMCA argument, but I some how don’t buy that. “We are just a search engine, and we help find it.” I worry about the knee jerk reaction of Hollywood types. He points out that since they are only an index, they can actually take out the copyrighted stuff out of the index. Oh oh… do I hear Napster again!
Of course one thing they don’t have to worry about – anyone copying their idea and coming up with a solution overnight. I played around with it, and found some of the good shows I like – Alias for one. Few episodes of 24 and Big Brother. Lots of erotica, but there is a safe mode. It is super easy to use, the searches are pretty accurate and well the downloads are amazingly fast, unlike the P2P networks. No need to worry about decoding the files, because the system does it for you.
The spam and other nefarious stuff is removed from the index, using some proprietary technologies. When you do a search for something you get thumb nail previews and you can do a whole bunch of sorting etc. The content on usenet is being constantly refreshed unlike the web, so it forces you to go back to the service again and again. I am currently watching a 1950s commercial for Winston cigarettes, with who else but Flintstones shilling the smokes. That’s just priceless.
I am saving the best for the last: they will soon offer downloads that will play on the video iPod.
What is Usenet?
* Usenet was created in 1979 as a collaborative effort between Duke University and UNC.
* Usenet today is a global message board with millions of active users and over 2 terabytes of content added daily. Usenet is the largest such community in the world.
* Users find and post content through “newsreaders” – programs such as Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird.
* Most web-surfers have Usenet access through their ISP. However, finding and posting multimedia content to Usenet is difficult using these programs due to outdated protocols + access methodology.
Om,
a couple years ago, a friend of mine and me, Joerg Battermann, we started newzbin.com – a usenet indexing service a.k.a search engine which is now run by a couple more guys. It might not look as fancy as guba, but actually has way more features and is quite cheaper.
I am no longer actively devloping the site, but the folks over there do a great job indexing usenet’s binaries.
I think you hit the nail on the head: Napster with Videos.
Here’s an advertising slogan I’ll offer to GUBA at no charge:
“Usenet…it’s PORN-tastic!”
Copying their idea? They copied the idea from Easynews.com. Which offers more data at a higher speed and for a longer period of time. They have been doing this since 1994. Do some homework, blogmeister.
well, great job on helping us keep Usenet underground and away from the *IAA’s next round of attacks in their holy crusade against file sharing.
/sarcasm
I was a member of Guba off and on back in the day when they were the only game in town. Then I switched to UsenetBinaries.com because they were slaughtering them in pricing and retention.
However, after being a member of both sites, I dont know what they have to sell here. Usenet images and video is basically a gigantic porn collection with a much smaller and erratic selection of ‘other’ content.
I did notice that Guba had put on this family-fresh new ‘Multimedia’ frontpage design with Googlish ‘safemode’. Now I know why.
Google Groups certainly surveyed the situation before they launched and decided there was nothing interesting there for them, I dunno how Guba is going to dress that up with a 1999ish PowerPoint presentation.
Nice article for your neighbors though – you got them slashdotted!!!
I’ll join the others in saying “these aren’t the only guys in town” – nor are they even doing it best or cheapest. Just search Google for “usenet binaries” and you’ll find other services like this, some with many more files online and some cheaper.
-DG
Actually, Guba has always struck me as the [i]yahoo[/i] of Usenet gateways — the clean design that is the halmark of Google can be found on http://www.usenetbinaries.com …
Very spiffy article, hopefully there won’t be any backlash against Usenet …
You might want to mention the huge quantity of kiddie porn and other illegal content that finds its way through guba’s magic filters. Joining that site is like inviting the FBI over for bong hits…
Binnews does a much better job and covers much more for a fraction of the price they charge. Binnews + Easynews = Way to go!
bah, all these losers copied off of binnews.com no one is original, they just copy ideas.
Easynews.com is the best solution I’ve found. 9.95/mo, generous limits, and incredibly good bandwidth.
How dare you losers accuse Guba of not being original. Much like Microsft, Guba are innovators.
actually, the best (and i’m biased since i’m a subscriber) is in fact, http://www.newsguy.com although not as flashy as guba, it works superbly for text and multimedia. they licensed their web interfce to easynews.com, and are cheper than both guba and easynews.
Correction: Newsguy did not licsense their interface to Easynews. This is the founder and co-owner of Easynews.com. We made our own interface and global search. We started in ’94 and were the first to bring usenet to the web. If you are interested, our forum is open to the public at http://forum.easynews.com/
[quote]GUBA decided to make a play for finding rich media in the Usenet groups. âWe wanted it to be a subscription service, â? says Thomas Mcinerney, who started the company with Eric Lambrecht. âISPs used to charge for Usenet and well, thatâs what we thought was the business model.â?[/quote]
$14.95 for searching a free service? Leechers leeching off the leechers… who on Earth is going to pay for a service like this?
You used to pay ISP’s for bandwidth.
I trust the RIAA will come knocking on your door, not only for aiding the distribution of illigal material but also profiteering.
Another web based usenet index you lot should have a look it is http://www.ngindex.com/. We carry only index the data, but cary every group and all the data. As an added bonus, you get to browse all the images just like you can on guba but for a hell of a lot less!
whoops! i’m so sorry! i meant to say webusenet, not easynews. i read the wrong nme of the list in leechguy, the best downloader for web frontend based usenet.
http://member.newsguy.com/~leechguy/
currently supports newsguy, easynews, and webusenet. use it to make the most of the web interface.
well if guba is just an index… which i didn’t think was the case, i thought it was a usenet service provider, and the one with the nicest search interfce really.
if it is jsuan index though, then easynews and newsguy are the best alternatives, sinc ethey actually provide the feeds as well. esynews hs the best retention, no doubt. but i much prefer newsguy’s interface, which is more rich in capability. monthly, they both cost the same (at the moment, but prices change…), although download limits vary, whereas half-yearly, and annually, newsguy beat easynews out, who only provide 1month sunbsciptions.
both of hese services are metered unlike various unlimited offerings, but this also allows them to provide a cheaper, better, quicker service.
if i were interested, i’d take advantge of both companies trial offerings and see which one you like more.
http://www.newsguy.com/overview.htm
https://www.easynews.com/trial/
Om,
I am dumbfounded that you would hold up GUBA as a success story. Let’s get real! GUBE peddles teen porn. Iâm guessing you donât have daughters. You said, âI am saving the best for the last: they will soon offer downloads that will play on the video iPod.â? Teed-porn on my iPOD! How can that possibly be something to celebrate!? Highlighting, in glowing terms, how great GUBA is at using searching technology to create a wonderful business, is like complimenting the BTK serial killer on how effective he used nylon stockings to strangle his victims. Shame on you.
Cary Stronach
Cary said: “is like complimenting the BTK serial killer on how effective he used nylon stockings to strangle his victims”.
Consuming porn is just like being a serial killer. Love the analogy, Mr. Puritan. Don’t like it, don’t click it.
I think GUBA is nice, fancy, but not the google for usenet. There are also http://www.binnews.com, http://www.binarynewz.com, and my favourite, a real Google for usenet, http://www.binadex.com
Yea, there is also http://www.usenetlive.com, a very good binary newsgroups search engine.
usenetlive aint great I find newzleech.com & binsearch.nifo to be miles better.
Is Guba legal? They have tons of videos that are illegaly published.
There’s a website that has over 6.000 TV Shows from Guba (http://www.contentstock.com/) and that’s only the peak of the iceberg…
There is one more source, actually it is indexing only avi files, but it is very friendly, check it there:
http://www.binarchive.net/last_movies.php?count=1&what=0
maybe some suggestions ?