Last Chance to Get VLC for iPhone/iPad? Likely to be Pulled from App Store?

[MacRumors]

If you haven't yet downloaded the VLC Media Player for iPhone/iPad, now's a good time to do so. A formal copyright complaint has been issued against the software by one of the individual contributors to the VLC project. As a result, it seems likely that Apple could pull the app from the App Store:

Today, a formal notification of copyright infringement was sent to Apple Inc. regarding distribution of the VLC media player for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. VLC media player is free software licensed solely under the terms of the open source GNU General Public License (a.k.a. GPL). Those terms are contradicted by the products usage rules of the AppStore through which Apple delivers applications to users of its mobile devices.

The reason for the complaint is an apparent incompatibility between the GPL license and the App Store policies -- at least according to the FSF. The App Store terms have changed since FSF originally posted about the App Store conditions, but there seems to be dissent amongst the VLC developers on the topic. The official VideoLan site has endorsed the port of VLC to the iPhone and iPad and their official twitter has since posted saying "So far, VLC is not going out of the AppStore" and "Maybe the FSF should actually ask us our opinion instead of writing misleading articles about VLC". The internal debate is being discussed on the mailing list.

At present VLC Media Player for iPhone/iPad remains available on the App Store.

Article Link: Last Chance to Get VLC for iPhone/iPad? Likely to be Pulled from App Store?

[Eduardo1971]

Guess I'm going to have to download It prior to it being pulled.

[SaaGua]

Oh come on, it's not like people are gonna be modifying programs and rewriting program language on an iphone or ipad...

It's supposed to be free, so as long as it's free on the app store...

[ElusiveMind]

give a black eye to open source. thanks FSF. Mission accomplished. Make people love open source.

[D-Love]

Yay legal speak and corporate greed!!!

[Wurm5150]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Yet haters will somehow blame Apple for this..

[ImNoSuperMan]

Welp, thanks for the heads up. I downloaded the ipad version but never installed the universal update. Lemme grap it asap

[DoFoT9]

how pathetic. who even reported it?

*goes back to converting TBs of movies that Apple cant play*

[EssentialParado]

I'm not usually one for conspiracies, but in relation to the person who made the complaint to Apple, this paragraph of their website did ring an alarm bell:

"I am currently working as a Linux kernel and system software engineer for Nokia in Helsinki, Finland. I am also one of the core developers of the VLC media player at the VideoLAN project"

[Papajohn56]

I really hate these GPL sticklers. Richard Stallman can gtfo.

[chach17]

Originally Posted by SaaGua

Oh come on, it's not like people are gonna be modifying programs and rewriting program language on an iphone or ipad...

It's supposed to be free, so as long as it's free on the app store...

Not correct. Free as in open is completely different from free as in beer. The GPL actually permits one to sell a GPL licensed piece of software for a fee. In order to be considered 'free' (not as in beer), you have to be able to request a copy of the source code, modify it, and then redistribute it (possibly for a fee).

I do think that the GPL is a great thing but I think that some people are far too concerned with GPL software on the App Store. As long as you can get the source code, you can buy a $99 developer membership and compile and run the app on your own iPhone/iPod/iPad, and you can distribute it on the App Store. Sure the $99 bites a big one, but big deal. It's not much different from needing to own a specific piece of equipment to compile code. For instance - Apple does not let you develop an iApp without a Mac and their XCode developer tools. One could argue that the price of the Mac is a restriction on your ability to modify and redistribute GPL software. I see the $99 developer fee as just another investment necessary to compile and run an iApp.

[Yamcha]

again a stupid move from Apple, at least for us users.. =/ I actually tried to sync it to my ipod touch last night, had no success I kept on getting an error

[elppa]

Originally Posted by EssentialParado

I'm not usually one for conspiracies, but in relation to the person who made the complaint to Apple, this paragraph of their website did ring an alarm bell:

"I am currently working as a Linux kernel and system software engineer for Nokia in Helsinki, Finland. I am also one of the core developers of the VLC media player at the VideoLAN project"

Amazing spot, good job. I agree with you - there is a very big chance ulterior motives are at play here.

Everyone knows how this ends. And it isn't in Apple making an exception from wrapping FairPlay around for one application. Because it would open a can of worms.

[AriX]

Apple's iTunes EULA is not necessarily incompatible with the GPL. See the links at http://twitter.com/#!/videolan/status/29192750334

[elppa]

Originally Posted by Yamcha

again a stupid move from Apple, at least for us users.. =/ I actually tried to sync it to my ipod touch last night, had no success I kept on getting an error

I think it is pretty harsh to pin this one all on Apple.

Why can't VLC just change the licence for the iPhone/iPad version? Oh that's right, because it's almost impossible.

Originally Posted by AriX

Calm down. Apple's iTunes EULA is not necessarily incompatible with the GPL. See the links at http://twitter.com/#!/videolan/status/29192750334

Almost everything is incompatible with the GPL. The only thing which is compatible is other GPL software.

[flopticalcube]

Originally Posted by Yamcha

again a stupid move from Apple, at least for us users.. =/ I actually tried to sync it to my ipod touch last night, had no success I kept on getting an error

What has Apple done here that is stupid exactly?

[jzuena]

Originally Posted by Wurm5150

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Yet haters will somehow blame Apple for this..

Originally Posted by Yamcha

again a stupid move from Apple, at least for us users.. =/ I actually tried to sync it to my ipod touch last night, had no success I kept on getting an error

Didn't take long, did it?

[tkermit]

Originally Posted by Yamcha

again a stupid move from Apple, at least for us users.. =/

Where do you see a move from Apple, let alone a stupid one?

Originally Posted by elppa

Amazing spot, good job. I agree with you - there is a very big chance ulterior motives are at play here.

I don't get it. If anything, Apple will be glad to get rid of VLC ?!

[Rajani Isa]

Originally Posted by flopticalcube

What has Apple done here that is stupid exactly?

Agreed - I just went and downloaded it, they haven't pulled it yet

[MrMcLargeHuge]

The Free Software Foundation, promoting free software for everyone.

Wait...

[sjo]

Originally Posted by EssentialParado

I'm not usually one for conspiracies, but in relation to the person who made the complaint to Apple, this paragraph of their website did ring an alarm bell:

"I am currently working as a Linux kernel and system software engineer for Nokia in Helsinki, Finland. I am also one of the core developers of the VLC media player at the VideoLAN project"

So a Nokia employee contributed to the VLC (contributions made during his own time?) in belief that the VideoLAN project honors the license under which he made the contribution. VideoLAN project chooses not to honor the license, the program gets pulled and you imply it's somehow Nokia's fault?

[elppa]

Originally Posted by tkermit

I don't get it. If anything, Apple will be glad to get rid of VLC ?!

Because in the letter of the law they are right and if they complain Apple will be obliged to yank it. A precedent has been set with another piece of GPL software.

And the person making a fuss about this knows it will likely create outcry on the web/blogs/gadget sites (and the majority of those contributing to the cacophony of noise won't understand the subtleties and complexities of software licensees and the GPL). This will damage Apple's PR and further enforce the idea the Apple are over zealous and controlling.

And no one wins. There is another thread where others have contributed their views and it is explained in further detail.

[elppa]

Originally Posted by sjo

So a Nokia employee contributed to the VLC (contributions made during his own time?) in belief that the VideoLAN project honors the license under which he made the contribution. VideoLAN project chooses not to honor the license, the program gets pulled and you imply it's somehow Nokia's fault?

This isn't Nokia acting as a corporation, it is one individual. Nokia is laying of a lot of staff because it is struggling to compete with new competitors at the high end of the market. This is a fact. Now we can certainly give the developer the benefit of the doubt and conclude their actions are based on principles alone, but given their day job it is hard to be conclusive.

[sjo]

Originally Posted by elppa

This isn't Nokia acting as a corporation, it is one individual.

Well that's pretty much what I asked. Why was Nokia brought into this conversation in the first place? To throw mud?

[Xavier]

Downloaded it just in case!