Nullsoft's future in a void

(continued from previous page)

considerable autonomy from its loft offices in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood. The group became a software engineering lab that developed technology for AOL's digital entertainment ambitions, including a streaming media enhancer called Ultravox and streaming audio and video formats called NSA and NSV, respectively.

Meanwhile, Nullsoft maintained development on Winamp while working on the media player found in AOL's proprietary online service. Winamp developers overhauled the product and released Winamp3 in 2002 with a new programming language called "Wasabi." The Nullsoft team hoped engineers would develop custom media applications using Wasabi, but the effort was dogged by criticism that it was too bloated.

Last year--in an attempt to regain Winamp's notoriety for being a sleek, edgy product without the frills of other media players--the team released an updated Winamp 5.0 that more closely resembled the original incarnation.

While the team received support from AOL's top brass, including Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis, internal tensions began stripping Nullsoft of its personality.

Frankel, who created Winamp as a project when he was 20 years old, increasingly became a liability after creating controversial software products that created panic among executives. His most famous creation, Gnutella, was quickly pulled in 2000 because it allowed users to swap digital music files during the height of Napster's copyright fight with the record industry. AOL shut down Gnutella, but not before many engineers downloaded it and created their own file-swapping services.

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. Click here to review our Terms of Use.