14 DAY TRIAL // After AnonyUpload, Anonymous OS and AnonPaste, we are presented with a service called AnonTune. The new site, which is currently “very beta,” is designed to offer free music streaming, similar to radio, while hoping to avoid the wrath of copyright holders.
Based on the motto “music seeks to be free,” the site will not store any content. Instead, it will search the Internet, including P2P, FTP, and even torrents, for whatever the user wants to listen to.
Since the service is meant to offer a certain level of anonymity to its users, donations can be made only through Bitcoin, which is considered to be the safest method of all.
Similar to some of the previous so-called Anonymous services, AnonTune was also heavily criticized for things such as using Java and the name of the online activist community. As a result, the site’s developers issued a statement to explain their decisions.
Initially, the platform utilized a Java component that had fallen under a lot of criticism because of the security risks. Now, the developers say that the Java applet was only part of a test, currently being removed.
AnonTune representatives state that if Java is reintroduced into the project, it will be completely transparent, allowing users to see for themselves that no malicious code is present.
For those who called the service a “music aggregator” that has nothing special about it, the developers say it’s much more than that.
“Music aggregation is only a small part of the project, though arguably the most important. Where Anontune differs from similar services such as Tomahawk is in it's scope: Our design allows us to tap ANY reservoir of music across the Internet, and I said INTERNET here NOT web,” they explained.
“Have a think about what this means: It means we can combine torrents, P2P, FTP, IRC DCC bots, literally ANY music network on one platform.”
As expected, the fact that donations are accepted made the site be seen as suspicious. However, the owners highlight the fact that if they wanted to make money out of it, they wouldn’t be “trying to upset a million dollar industry.”
Finally, the last topic of debate is the use of the name of the largest online activists community in the world, Anonymous.
“Believe me when I say it is not our intention to exploit Anonymous for our own agenda. We are Anonymous because we are anonymous. The website is called Anontune because we intend to add anonymous features and uphold privacy/security for our users to a rigorous standard,” they wrote.
“It is also called Anontune to imply music should stand on it's own right, without hype or manipulation. Anonymous should commend this approach, regardless of whether you actively support Anontune or not.”
It will be interesting to see if AnonTune becomes popular, but for now, the initiators of the project are doing everything they can to keep the boat afloat. Those interested in the project can check out the AnonTune whitepapers and the privacy policy.