use jackson
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/PassiveGossipThread.java b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/PassiveGossipThread.java
index b05a780..5abb39f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/PassiveGossipThread.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/PassiveGossipThread.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+import org.codehaus.jackson.map.ObjectMapper;
 import org.json.JSONArray;
 import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.json.JSONObject;
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@
 import com.google.code.gossip.GossipMember;
 import com.google.code.gossip.GossipService;
 import com.google.code.gossip.RemoteGossipMember;
+import com.google.code.gossip.model.ActiveGossipMessage;
 
 /**
  * [The passive thread: reply to incoming gossip request.] This class handles the passive cycle,
@@ -54,6 +56,8 @@
   private AtomicBoolean keepRunning;
 
   private final String cluster;
+  
+  private ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
 
   public PassiveGossipThread(GossipManager gossipManager) {
     this.gossipManager = gossipManager;
@@ -93,46 +97,35 @@
             json_bytes[i] = buf[i + 4];
           }
           String receivedMessage = new String(json_bytes);
-          GossipService.LOGGER.debug("Received message (" + packet_length + " bytes): "
+          GossipService.LOGGER.warn("Received message (" + packet_length + " bytes): "
                   + receivedMessage);
           try {
             List<GossipMember> remoteGossipMembers = new ArrayList<>();
             RemoteGossipMember senderMember = null;
-            JSONArray jsonArray = new JSONArray(receivedMessage);
-            for (int i = 0; i < jsonArray.length(); i++) {
-              JSONObject memberJSONObject = jsonArray.getJSONObject(i);
-              if (memberJSONObject.length() == 5
-                      && cluster.equals(memberJSONObject.get(GossipMember.JSON_CLUSTER))) {
-                RemoteGossipMember member = new RemoteGossipMember(
-                        memberJSONObject.getString(GossipMember.JSON_CLUSTER),
-                        memberJSONObject.getString(GossipMember.JSON_HOST),
-                        memberJSONObject.getInt(GossipMember.JSON_PORT),
-                        memberJSONObject.getString(GossipMember.JSON_ID),
-                        memberJSONObject.getLong(GossipMember.JSON_HEARTBEAT));
-                GossipService.LOGGER.debug(member.toString());
-                // This is the first member found, so this should be the member who is communicating
-                // with me.
-                if (i == 0) {
-                  senderMember = member;
-                }
-                remoteGossipMembers.add(member);
-              } else if (memberJSONObject.length() == 5) {
-                GossipService.LOGGER.warn("The member object does not belong to this cluster.");
-              } else {
-                GossipService.LOGGER
-                        .error("The received member object does not contain 5 objects:\n"
-                                + memberJSONObject.toString());
+            ActiveGossipMessage activeGossipMessage = MAPPER.readValue(json_bytes,
+                    ActiveGossipMessage.class);
+            for (int i = 0; i < activeGossipMessage.getMembers().size(); i++) {
+              RemoteGossipMember member = new RemoteGossipMember(
+                      activeGossipMessage.getMembers().get(i).getCluster(),
+                      activeGossipMessage.getMembers().get(i).getHost(),
+                      activeGossipMessage.getMembers().get(i).getPort(),
+                      activeGossipMessage.getMembers().get(i).getId(),
+                      activeGossipMessage.getMembers().get(i).getHeartbeat());
+              if (!(member.getClusterName().equals(cluster))){
+                GossipService.LOGGER.warn("Note a member of this cluster " + i);
+                continue;
               }
-
+              // This is the first member found, so this should be the member who is communicating
+              // with me.
+              if (i == 0) {
+                senderMember = member;
+              } 
+              remoteGossipMembers.add(member);
             }
             mergeLists(gossipManager, senderMember, remoteGossipMembers);
-          } catch (JSONException e) {
-            GossipService.LOGGER
-                    .error("The received message is not well-formed JSON. The following message has been dropped:\n"
-                            + receivedMessage);
-            System.out.println(e);
+          } catch (RuntimeException ex) {
+            GossipService.LOGGER.error("Unable to process message", ex);
           }
-
         } else {
           GossipService.LOGGER
                   .error("The received message is not of the expected size, it has been dropped.");
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/impl/SendMembersActiveGossipThread.java b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/impl/SendMembersActiveGossipThread.java
index 4e5f855..2259781 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/impl/SendMembersActiveGossipThread.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/manager/impl/SendMembersActiveGossipThread.java
@@ -24,19 +24,33 @@
 import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.json.JSONArray;
+import org.codehaus.jackson.map.ObjectMapper;
 
 import com.google.code.gossip.GossipService;
 import com.google.code.gossip.LocalGossipMember;
 import com.google.code.gossip.manager.ActiveGossipThread;
 import com.google.code.gossip.manager.GossipManager;
+import com.google.code.gossip.model.ActiveGossipMessage;
+import com.google.code.gossip.model.GossipMember;
 
 abstract public class SendMembersActiveGossipThread extends ActiveGossipThread {
 
+  protected ObjectMapper om = new ObjectMapper();
+  
   public SendMembersActiveGossipThread(GossipManager gossipManager) {
     super(gossipManager);
   }
 
+  private GossipMember convert(LocalGossipMember member){
+    GossipMember gm = new GossipMember();
+    gm.setCluster(member.getClusterName());
+    gm.setHeartbeat(member.getHeartbeat());
+    gm.setHost(member.getHost());
+    gm.setId(member.getId());
+    gm.setPort(member.getPort());
+    return gm;
+  }
+  
   /**
    * Performs the sending of the membership list, after we have incremented our own heartbeat.
    */
@@ -50,13 +64,12 @@
     try (DatagramSocket socket = new DatagramSocket()) {
       socket.setSoTimeout(gossipManager.getSettings().getGossipInterval());
       InetAddress dest = InetAddress.getByName(member.getHost());
-      JSONArray jsonArray = new JSONArray();
-      jsonArray.put(me.toJSONObject());
+      ActiveGossipMessage message = new ActiveGossipMessage();
+      message.getMembers().add(convert(me));
       for (LocalGossipMember other : memberList) {
-        jsonArray.put(other.toJSONObject());
-        GossipService.LOGGER.debug(other);
+        message.getMembers().add(convert(other));
       }
-      byte[] json_bytes = jsonArray.toString().getBytes();
+      byte[] json_bytes = om.writeValueAsString(message).getBytes();
       int packet_length = json_bytes.length;
       if (packet_length < GossipManager.MAX_PACKET_SIZE) {
         byte[] buf = createBuffer(packet_length, json_bytes);
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/ActiveGossipMessage.java b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/ActiveGossipMessage.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d3516f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/ActiveGossipMessage.java
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package com.google.code.gossip.model;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public class ActiveGossipMessage {
+
+  private List<GossipMember> members = new ArrayList<>();
+  
+  public ActiveGossipMessage(){
+    
+  }
+
+  public List<GossipMember> getMembers() {
+    return members;
+  }
+
+  public void setMembers(List<GossipMember> members) {
+    this.members = members;
+  }
+  
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/GossipMember.java b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/GossipMember.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c073b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/code/gossip/model/GossipMember.java
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package com.google.code.gossip.model;
+
+public class GossipMember {
+
+  private String cluster;
+  private String host;
+  private Integer port;
+  private String id;
+  private Long heartbeat;
+  
+  public GossipMember(){
+    
+  }
+  
+  public GossipMember(String cluster, String host, Integer port, String id, Long heartbeat){
+    this.cluster=cluster;
+    this.host= host;
+    this.port = port;
+    this.id = id;
+    
+  }
+
+  public String getCluster() {
+    return cluster;
+  }
+
+  public void setCluster(String cluster) {
+    this.cluster = cluster;
+  }
+
+  public String getHost() {
+    return host;
+  }
+
+  public void setHost(String host) {
+    this.host = host;
+  }
+
+  public Integer getPort() {
+    return port;
+  }
+
+  public void setPort(Integer port) {
+    this.port = port;
+  }
+
+  public String getId() {
+    return id;
+  }
+
+  public void setId(String id) {
+    this.id = id;
+  }
+
+  public Long getHeartbeat() {
+    return heartbeat;
+  }
+
+  public void setHeartbeat(Long heartbeat) {
+    this.heartbeat = heartbeat;
+  }
+  
+}