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Nonprofit Developers Release Open-Source Democracy Media Player

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2006 - 2:53am.
Worcester, Mass. - The non-profit Participatory Culture Foundation on Thursday announced the release of an open-source media player and Internet TV system. The Democracy Player is being developed for Windows, Mac and Linux, and also includes software that can be used to publish video, a program guide of hundreds of channels of available video, and a community-rated automatic feed of free new Internet videos. The Massachusetts-based Participatory Culture Foundation said that the Democracy Player is being developed with donations from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Andy Rappaport, and Mitch Kapor, Lotus founder and chairman of the Mozilla Foundation.
tags: release | Media Player | Nonprofit Developer | Open-Source | Democracy |

SonyBMG Anti-Piracy Software May Infringe Open-Source Copyright

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2005 - 3:32am.
Los Angeles - The controversial CD copy-protection software that this week prompted SonyBMG to recall millions of CDs also appears to have lifted elements from open-source software, which could constitute copyright infringement, Reuters reported on Friday. Developed by U.K.-based First 4 Internet, the anti-piracy software included a "rootkit" designed to hide it deep within a computer's operating system; this tool can also be used independently by virus writers to attack PCs, and Microsoft and anti-virus firms are now actively working to remove it from PCs worldwide. The CD copy-protection software also includes a media player, which developers said makes unauthorized use of LAME, an open-source MP3 player application. One principle of free-to-use open-source software is that it if it is utilized for other applications, the derivatives must also be open-source. Failure to heed the rules of open-source software can trigger copyright infringement claims. "That's the flipside of open source: If you don't respect the open-source rules, the old regime of copy protection comes back in full force," Internet law expert Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm told Reuters.
tags: Software | Copyright | Open-Source | SonyBMG |