Friendfeed added yet another feature to its short social messaging service that you won't find on Twitter: the ability to share MP3s and other files directly within your feed. Sure, there are plenty of ways to discover new tunes on Twitter, but it doesn't allow you to upload MP3s directly into your feed so that your friends can download them, the way Friendfeed now does.
Another big difference between Friendfeed and Twitter is that on Friendfeed, you can make rooms private, so that prying eyes can't see what goes on inside. This makes the new feature great for sharing music with a large or small group of friends -- but don't uninstall that bit torrent client just yet. You can only upload three MP3s per day to Friendfeed and that limit could change over time, according to what Friendfeed co-founder Bret Taylor told TechCrunch.
Anyone who subscribes to your Friendfeed will be able to download your shared MP3, or stream it directly from Friendfeed:
Of course, MP3 and other audio formats can be used for things besides music. Friendfeed hopes to add MP4 streaming capability soon, so that Friendfeed will be capable of streaming voice memos posted from iPhones in addition to MP3s.
So, what about that big copyright infringement elephant sitting in the room? Taylor says Friendfeed's plan is to respond to infringement complaints as is required by the DMCA (by removing infringing content from the site after being notified by a content owner) and by terminating repeat infringers' accounts. It's unclear how copyright holders would even know anything's being infringed, given Friendfeed's privacy options.
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