NetGuru Lanuches ASP Unit; Broadcom Fastest of Fast
Peer-to-peer networking,the file-sharing method that has gained attention thanks to the battle over digital music-swapping services such as Napster and Gnutella,is getting a look from eLiberation.com Corp., a service that pays people to use its Web software.
Officials with the company say they already can track the activity of subscribers who use eLiberation’s referral program. They hope to use that know-how for a system that would generate money when users share music, videos and other files.
Peer-to-peer networking allows users to automatically make their files available to others users without having to store them on a central computer. This has infuriated music companies because it makes it easy to swap copyrighted material but hard to track down and reprimand individual violators. Despite the popularity of Napster and similar services, no one has figured out how to generate revenue under the technique.
Under a system being tested now, subscribers would be able to take credit they’ve generated using eLiberation’s pay-to-surf plan and use it to pay for files they’ve downloaded from other users.
The software, which will add file-sharing features soon, is available now at the company’s Web site, www.ePilot.com.
It’s a Small World
Another Orange County software company is hoping to rent out what it’s now selling by transforming itself into an application service provider.
Web4 Inc., a subsidiary of Yorba Linda Internet and software company netGuru Inc., is launching a service that will allow engineers to collaborate online using a variety of software and Web4’s workflow and project management programs. The system is designed to make it easier for engineers in different offices to work together in real time,even if they’re halfway around the world.
With much of its staff in India, netGuru has plenty of experience in long-distance teamwork. The company specializes in making engineering software, but in the past year has moved into the Internet arena with a Web hub targeting homesick immigrants.
Company officials are betting on the growth of the ASP market, which rents out software over the Internet instead of selling users a permanent copy.
According to a survey by The Phillips Group, the applications hosting market is expected to grow from $1 billion last year to more than $20 billion by 2003. Cahners In-Stat Group, meanwhile, predicts small businesses will spend more than $7 billion on applications services by 2004, from less than $10 million now.
The Fast Set
A half-dozen Orange County companies made the cut for this year’s “Fast 500” ranking from Deloitte & Touche, which evaluated companies by their sales growth over the last five years.
To qualify, the companies must have had sales of at least $50,000 in 1994 and have headquarters in the U.S.
n Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp. made the biggest showing of any OC company, coming in at No. 49 nationally. Broadcom, which designs the innards of most cable modems and set-top boxes on the market, has grown 5,480% in the past five years.
n SRS Labs Inc., a Santa Ana company headed by AST Research co-founder Tom Yuen, ranked No. 63 with 4,417% growth. The firm licenses sound-enhancement technology to consumer electronics and software companies.
n Lake Forest-based iBASEt, which designs software used to eliminate the paperwork involved in the manufacturing process, ranked No. 141 with a 2,001% increase in sales.
n I/O Magic Corp., Irvine, ranked No. 210 with 1,446% growth. The company makes optical storage devices and other computer peripherals.
n Linksys Group Inc., an Irvine company that makes a variety of connectors and network devices for computers, ranked No. 317 with 909% growth.
n Vision Solutions Inc., Irvine, ranked No. 354 with a sales spurt of 814%.
Box Office Rivals
Tickets.com has a new competitor just north of its Orange County stomping grounds.
Paciolan Systems Inc., a Long Beach company that makes computer systems to handle ticketing operations, received $10 million to fund a system that will allow venues to issue tickets on their own Web sites, bypassing operations such as Ticketmaster altogether.
Bits:
NetChemistry Inc., an Irvine company that rents software to the financial services industry over the Internet, has signed on to use AT & T;’s network for application service providers, “Ecosystem for ASPs.” NetChemistry officials expect the deal to bolster the reliability of their offerings. … Irvine business software maker Epicor Software Corp. extended for five years an agreement with FRx Software Corp., a Denver company that makes applications designed to make it easier for companies to report financial results. Under the deal, each company will help market the other’s products and make it easier for the software to work together.
Ken Spencer Brown can be reached at kbrown@ocbj.com or 949-833-8373, Ext. 239.
