Hi there… In an attempt to test Banshee, I put a few Itunes songs into my music folder and tried to play them. It didn’t. Then, I got to reading in the forums and noticed that there was a “one click” configuration for Gnome users. After doing some more reading, I saw a lot of references to restricted codecs and things of that nature. After beginning the one-click process and then aborting midway through installation, three questions come to mind:
Why all the warnings about legalities of downloading the codecs/files? If I bought the music and I use the codecs to listen to it, where does legalities come into play?
While installing some of the different files, etc in the one-click process, I received a few warnings that a particular file was not from a trusted source (I don’t remember the info verbatim) and then it gave me an email address, presumably from the developer, and asked if I wanted to install it anyway.
If I do go through the one-click process, will I be able to listen to I-tunes or am I pretty much screwed on I-tunes on linux?
> 1) Why all the warnings about legalities of downloading the
> codecs/files? If I bought the music and I use the codecs to listen to
> it, where does legalities come into play?
Because the codecs are covered in some countries by patents, and they may
or may not be properly licensed for use in those countries. There’s more
to it than just legally owning the music - you have to legally have
access to the technology that allows the files to be played on your
computer.
Some codecs contain patented technologies in some jurisdictions; others
don’t.
AFAIK music from iTunes is DRM locked in to apple devices. In other words, you can only play it in apple devices/software. Apple do not provide iTunes software for Linux. I know my Son had an apple device and iTunes too, something he now very much regrets. (Ignored my advice of course)
As for the legal side in the US. Jim should be able to clarify that, as he is a US citizen. And a Novell employee.
[QUOTE=caf4926;2322798]AFAIK music from iTunes is DRM locked in to apple devices. In other words, you can only play it in apple devices/software. Apple do not provide iTunes software for Linux. I know my Son had an apple device and iTunes too, something he now very much regrets. (Ignored my advice of course)[QUOTE]
Well, from what I’ve read about Banshee, it clearly states that it will play Itunes music, and even sync with an ipod.
As for the legal side, I’d love to hear Jim’s take on it.
All I can tell you is there are licences for playback, such as libdvdcss for dvd’s
It all makes not a dot of sense to me. What kind of kick do these people get out of such licences. Load of old ‘Codswallop’ if you ask me.
I have friends that use windows and can’t play half the stuff they have. I just tell them, install VLC player, it should do the job, and it does.
I think you are worrying unnecessarily about the OneClick.
As for the ipod. All I can say is good luck. Wouldn’t touch one, never had one, never want one.
On 04/13/2011 07:06 AM, Mazate wrote:
>
> And is that technology properly licensed for use in this country? (US)
which codec and/or technology?
and, how close to almost illegal would you willing to go in order to
listen to music, or watch a video which you paid for, or it was loaned
or give to you used, by a friend?
and, how much of that do you wanna do before you start hiring your own
attorney to advise you how to stay you absolutely legal?
confused? you can purchase ‘proper’ licensed codecs here:
but, be sure to read and understand the license–i can’t be bothered to
try to understand it, and i won’t hire a lawyer to explain it to me, so
i look for ‘free’ codecs, like from packman or other places…
ymmv…
–
CAVEAT: http://is.gd/bpoMD
[NNTP via openSUSE 11.3 + KDE4.5.5 + Thunderbird3.1.8]
Q: Why do you upgrade?
A: Because the Gecko is always greener on the other side!
So said k428 in http://is.gd/Pwc3xq
> And is that technology properly licensed for use in this country? (US)
Depends on which technology you’re using and which codecs. If you are
talking MP3 and are using the Fluendo codecs, then yes. If you’re
talking about playing DVDs using libdvdcss, then probably not.
Yeah I don’t care about DVD’s. I just want to be able to play music. I have some MP3’s that I downloaded from Amazon that I imported into Banshee and I just want to be able to play them.
> Yeah I don’t care about DVD’s. I just want to be able to play music. I
> have some MP3’s that I downloaded from Amazon that I imported into
> Banshee and I just want to be able to play them.
Well, I was using DVDs as an example. If you want to listen to MP3s, try
installing the Fluendo plugins for Banshee (as I recall, that’s the
‘legally licensed’ option), then you can listen to them and be legal.
> Would you mind guiding me in the right direction to install the fluendo
> plugins? I truly am brand new at this…
I’d refer back to the multimedia/restricted formats guide that was posted
elsewhere in this thread - that handles most people’s needs and is the
place where anyone should start with this.
