> And (more importantly) Flash isn't an "open format" (like HTML,
> XML, PNG, Ogg Vorbis, Ogg Theora, etc) that everyone has the
> freedom to implement and do whatever they want with.
Actually, since about 1998 or so, anyone can create SWF:
http://www.macromedia.com/licensing/developer/
What's controlled is the Macromedia source code for the rendering
engine, so that there aren't the forking and compatibility difficulties
we see among the various WWW browsers.
> Flash is a proprietary format owned by Adobe/Macromedia. And
> Adobe/Macromedia restricts what can and can't be done with their free/gratis
> Flash player. Not to mention Adobe/Macromedia seems to be the only ones
> allowed to create server side software for Flash... for example, the RTMP
> protocol is completely closed and proprietary... and it's yet to be seen if
> Adobe/Macromedia would invoke the DMCA against anyone who reverse engineered
> it.
There are many non-Adobe servers which work with SWF:
http://osflash.org/open_source_flash_projects#servers_and_remoting
The RTMP issue is trickier, because Adobe *licenses* third-party codecs
(Fraunhoffer, Nelly-Moser, Sorenson, Duck) for inclusion... it's hard to
document what others own.
For that cussword "proprietary" itself, it starts to get fuzzier the
closer you look at it:
"Is 'Open and Shut' actually open-and-shut?" (March 2003)
http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/jd_forum/jd026.html
> But having said all that, I do think it is acceptable to have Flash as one
> of many different options of watching a vlog. But it should NOT be the only
> one.
I agree... arbitrary prohibitions aren't useful.
jd
--
John Dowdell . Adobe Developer Support . San Francisco CA USA
Weblog: http://weblogs.macromedia.com/jd
Aggregator: http://weblogs.macromedia.com/mxna
Technotes: http://www.macromedia.com/support/
Spam killed my private email -- public record is best, thanks.
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "videoblogging" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
