As you may or may not know, SONY has released a Anti- DRM root kit.
Allowing home users to remove copy protection and other nasties on media they own legally.

However, it seems that Open source programmers have been analysing the Closed Source Software, and found that it contains many functions and lines of code stolen directly from open source projects such as LAME (an Mp3 encoder) and deCSS ( de-crypts DVD video)

The Open Source Licences these projects are released by allow anyone to use the code, however they demand that any modifications of the code, of programs directly using the code be makde free and open themselves.

SONY's rootkit is NOT open source.

Linkage: http://www.the-interweb.com/serendipity/in...s/20051117.html
Linkage: http://hack.fi/~muzzy/sony-drm/

The Legal issues here are complicated....
But what wbout the moral issues ???

These Open source developers have not lost any money, as they were giving the code away for free.

However, the programs are free, under the condition that any further work done to them is given back to the comunity.

Are there any legal experts here at Astahost ? Is anyone familiar with the GPL ?

I have no doubt that SONY and First4Internet will get away with this theft.

But i think in all fairness, SONY should be forced to change the licence of this software from its own Closed Source licence, to an OpenSource Licence.

Not the whole rootkit, just the specific parts containg the Stolen Code.

Alot of reverse engeneering and work must have been done to find the stolen code in a closed souce binary program !! Which gets me thinking, How often is open source code stolen by huge major companys, and never discovered.

Oh great.. it's like one blast after another.. non-stop. Sony's going to the dogs, completely. Isn't there any internet body which takes up such issues legally and forces the companies to comply with these OSS licenses ?

Guess not.... Isn't it so that only the one who has created the software has the possibility of sueing people who are not complying.

I think so.

If someone started stealing kernel code, i think IBM (who have donated a great deal of code, and its own developers to linux) might step in and throw its weight around a little.

But it will cost the writers of software such as LAME to sue SONY.
And sony can afford better lawyers.

Also, it will be very hard to sue for damages, since things like LAME as free asin BEER aswell as SPEACH.

Sony are beeing the bood guys by helping end users to break DRM protected media, but there beeing bad guys by stealing code to do so.

My Thinks sony is beeing tempted by the DARK side ???

Trying to be good, but taking shortcuts by beeing evil.
Is Sony a modern day Anakin Skywalker ???

Heh, Sony didn't want to do it on their own, so they turned to OSS...Sony is a REALLY funny company...Sony also owns Columbia...who has said before that they really want to put a stop to people "stealing" music, but yet, under their own brand, are selling the hardware, the blank media, and the software to do all these things that movie and record companies (like Sony/Columbia) don't want us doing.

Probably, as long as the company makes profit, they won't care about any morale. Just remember what the main goal of a company is : To make profit.

Whatever they say, the goal is money, that's why it's a company. Although they claim alot that they want us to be happy, they don't.

That's what I like so much about the opensource idea, you share stuff and work on it with other people for fun and getting better at programming or whatever. Without having to worry about licenses and fees.

It is too bad that companies are running over their legal limits with stuff like the DRM rootkit. Unfortunately, it all too often is all about money, with little or no concern for right and wrong. Does anyone know what kind of legal action these open-source coders can take? What kind of penalties are included in the Open Source License?

Heh, interesting. Next we'll have Windows ripping directly from Linux. xD

But seriously, pretty low morals. You'd think a company the size of Sony would be able to come up with their own code. I wish the Open Source-ers good luck.

Microsof NTt used part of the FreeBSD kernel to handle Tcp/IP (for non techies, the protocol used for almost all of internet communication)





FreeBSD i licenced under the BSD licence, so it is completely Legal to use the code for anything, even in non Open source projects like Windows, however, credit MUST be given to the origoonal author. (Microsoft didnt give credit, and denied using BSD source code)

It was the denial that was againsed the licence, not using it. which i think is quite funny.

quote sources'
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/6/19/05641/7357
http://public.wsj.com/news/hmc/sb992819157437237260.htm

Considering open source programs are usually not created by a single organization or company, it's very difficult for open source initiatives to sue a large powerfull and rich company like Sony or Microsoft.