A company has stolen an open source project (XviD)

[Darth Viscera]

has taken the source code for <a href=http://www.xvid.org>XviD (http://www.sigmadesigns.com>Sigma), the last remaining free and open MPEG-4 video codec (it's like DivX, only open source) and is distributing it as its own product, under the name Sigma Designs’ REALmagic® MPEG-4 Video Codec. They refuse to honor the <a href=http://www.geocities.com/yccheok/palmxq/LICENSE.txt>GNU General Public License</a> under which XviD was distributed, and are not releasing the source code to the public. Please do what you can. Without high quality, free and open MPEG-4 codecs, research in video compression will be completely at the hands of the corporations. What does this mean to you? That over time, the Star Wars fan films which you download from theforce.net will not be higher quality, a smaller filesize, and it may cost money to encode them, which knocks out personal creativity.

I've written an email to Sigma Designs' (see below). Until Sigma Designs' adheres to the GNU, the XviD video codec project has been stopped. If you want to write a similar email to them, I (and all the other users of XviD, and indirectly the makers of free Star Wars fan films) will be very grateful.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide to me at your earliest convenience a copy of the source code for your derivative of the XviD codec, the Sigma Designs’ REALmagic® MPEG-4 Video Codec. I wish to exercise my right to change the free software, as stipulated in the GNU General Public License which Sigma Designs’ accepted by distributing and/or modifying the XviD Program or works based on it.

I thank you for your time and consideration,


EDIT~Here's some links, the GNU violation has already been reported to slashdot.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32015

[Marcus Telcontar]

Dont care.

[JMK]

Wasn't this part of the movie "Antitrust"? Where the evil corporation steals software which was intended to be free?

[Darth Viscera]

probably, i don't remember that movie too clearly.

A few online news sites have received the news and published articles about XviD vs Sigma. Spreading like wildfire. The boys at Sigma Designs are going to wake up tomorrow to the largest headache ever :|

EDIT~And w00t, look at the homepage of divx.com! :cat I knew DivX had some semblance of a heart left in them.

[Oishii Sakana]

These sorts of things confuse me.

[Darth Viscera]

Basically, a company is trying to steal stuff from the formerly faceless masses....they're stealing free open source code, relabeling it and trying to sell it....


And within 7 hours their primary business partner has dumped them! massive recalls of REALmagic products, etc

w00t! Solidarity, brother!

[Darth Viscera]

This just in-

AMD has donated money to the XviD team to fund their legal counsel against Sigma.

Also, apparently the RIAA in the past endorsed the infringing Sigma software for DVD players from Panasonic and Daewoo. As of now, the RIAA is endorsing the theft of intellectual property by continuing to endorse the sale of products tied into the codec.

Oh my, the irony is delicious :)

[Lilaena De'Ville]

w00t

?

:)

[JMK]

Yes, I'd like to know what that means too.

[Loki Ahmrah]

Bloody hell! Their up to their necks in it now. I love it when a big corporation is in big trouble for trying to exploit the little guys. Let justice be served on a silver platter.