SlimServer Streaming Media/Textbook Server

The Squeezbox2 wireless, streaming audio server is pretty cool. I don't even have
one but since the software it runs is based on GNU/Linux, I don't need one. I can install the SlimServer streaming server right on my home (or school) PC running Red Hat Fedora Linux. This is just how open source software licensing is supposed to work. Posted on the SlimServer download page is this notice, “Supported by an international team of developers, SlimServer is released under the Open Source GPL license.” This means that I can freely download it, adapt it to suite my needs and redistribute it to others. It also happens that the Squeezebox would be a good product for schools to purchase. Read on...

So now I have a streaming audio server at home. I can configure it so it's accessible over the Internet and even use passwords to limit who has access to my music. I can serve multiple playlists serving more than one file at a time to different users. As nice as this is, because I'm free to use the software anyway I want to, I'm thinking more about how it can be used in schools.

How about recording teacher lectures and streaming them on teacher homework pages for after school listening? How about having parent volunteers read chapters from books assigned in class and streaming the content for students with reading difficulties? There may be some licensing issues with the content but configured correctly to allow only access by students, many of these uses would fall under fair use guidelines.

• Preparation of Educational Multimedia Projects Under Fair Use Guidelines – From the University of Texas, Crash Course in Copyright – Fair Use Tutorial.
• The Teach Act – American Library Association primer on the Technology,
  Education and Copyright Harmonization Act.
• See also the Teach Act Toolkit, published by NC State University.

It's great that these fair use resources are here. For teachers, understanding when materials can be published for students and the associated restrictions is problematic though. The contrast between open source licensing and other more restrictive licenses is remarkable. One promotes adaptation and improvement and adds something of worth to the information commons, thus promoting learning. The other seeks to restrict use and limit access to information. It can be argued that protecting intellectual property rights actually promotes the production of ideas. That may be true but I don't think publishers need protection from a teacher who wants to stream an audio file of a chapter in a textbook.