Software Writers Spot Open Source in Sony BMG CDs

November 18th 2005 | General

Controversial copy-protection software used by music publisher Sony BMG on music CDs appears to have tapped an open source project, raising questions about copyrights, software experts said on Friday.

The XCP program, developed by British software firm First4Internet and used by Sony BMG to restrict copying and sharing of music CDs.. ..will have installed itself on a Windows-operated personal computer when consumers want to play 49 title CDs from Sony BMG. The programme forces consumers to use a music player that comes with the program. This music player contains components from an open source project, an MP3 player called LAME, it emerged.

"Multiple software components on the CD have references to the LAME open source MP3 code," Finnish software developer Matti Nikki said in an e-mail. After unraveling the code, others found similar evidence.

Reuters

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Software Writers Spot Open Source in Sony BMG CDs
Published in: General on 2005-11-18