JK> 2) What CDDB licenses is access to our real-time data service
JK> for accessing
JK> audio CD information. The protocols used to access our
JK> service (CDDBP and HTTP) are Open Source protocols. We do not
JK> license the protocols.
That data which was collected at no effort to you... it was created by
people like myself putting a CD into my drive and typing in the
information. I don't recall me giving you permission to license that
data when I submitted it, either.
JK> 3) Instead of requiring developers to pay a royalty for our
JK> service, we have
The part that I find most egregious is your restriction on using any
other CD database service. "Use only us or we'll cut you off".
That's a pretty adversarial business model and I find it funny that
you are shocked at everyone's responses.
JK> With regard to your specific questions, please see my
JK> responses below. We really are OK people to work with. We
JK> have real costs associated with maintaining the service and
JK> have tried in our Player Agreement to create a mechanism for
JK> covering costs while not financially impacting developers. If
JK> developers don't agree with this approach, that is OK....any
JK> developer can elect not to use our service.
I think the reason people are so pissed off at you guys is because you
have attempted to unilaterally usurp something that we all built. You
didn't build it, you just stole it and now you're trying to tell us
how we can access the data that we ourselves typed in.
It would have been a lot different if you had approached this
community with something along the lines of "Hey, guys, we have
families to feed and we think we can make a bit of money off of
this... would you mind adding a click through on any of your apps so I
can feed my wife and kids?" but instead you come in demanding and
threatening and trying to bully your way around... all this with data
that you DID NOT ENTER YOURSELF.
It's not like you hired a battalion of keyops to type in all the
data, you know. We all did it, for free, and now you're trying to
tell us how we can use our own data. I find that repugnant and
shameful and I hope your company learns quickly how to play nice
because if you don't, you're going to tank and that's not what anybody
wants.
Nobody's opposed to making money around here. What our community _is_
opposed to is tyranny of any form. You put yourself on the firing
line and told everyone to pull the trigger and you should _not_ be
shocked at the response you've created. The hacker community
_created_ stuff like this and we'll do it again, and again, and
again. We _LIKE_ doing it and we are _GOOD_ at it.
-- Gary F.
(my opinions are my own and don't necessarily represent Sun
Microsystems, yadda yadda yadda)
-- "There is no shame in a UNIX Sysadmin not coping with a Mac. Auto mechanics don't have to fix rubber squeak toys." -- Carl Rigney