The Java Media Framework and MovieSafe - an FAQ

What is the JMF?

The JMF is a standard extension to Java that allows Java programs and applets to play sound and video. It is completely free to download from Sun at http://java.sun.com/products/jmf (3.5 MBytes). SoundSafe applets rely on the JMF to protect a movie.

Do I need to install it to create applets?

Yes and no. To create applets it is not necessary to install the JMF. If you want to preview a track in SoundSafe then the JMF is needed.

Do listeners of the applets need to install it?

It depends. SoundSafe provides the option to include the JMF in the applet so the target browser doesn't need the plugin. However this will increase download time and not all formats are supported, most notably MP3. If you expect the user to have the plugin then they should download the "performance" version for their platform eg.windows. However the performance pack isn't available for all patforms so including the JMF in the applet is perhaps the best option.

How safe are the sounds I protect

The original sound file can't be copied however it's not possible to prevent the user utilising a second program to intercept the output of the sound card and record it in WAV format. The WAV can then be converted back to a format like MP3. SoundSafe means that a significant effort has to be made to steal the sound.

What's the download overhead

Without the JMF player software in the applet the sound file will be a lot smaller than the original because the JAR file created is infact a zip file in disguise. If you include the JMF player in the applet then you should expect a download overhead on top of the original size of around 250K for sounds up to 750K which will drop to 200K and below for sound files over one megabyte.

How do I know if SoundSafe can play a sound

Not all codecs are implemented in the JMF. Refer to the readme file for a list of supported formats.