VLC for iPhone and iPad soon to disappear thanks to GPL complaints — go get it now

There’s always been tension between Apple’s tight control of the iOS App Store and the DRM-free license requirements of the GPL, and it seems like things are coming to a head over VLC, the open-source video player. As you’ll recall, VLC was just released for the iPad and iPhone in the past few months, but the port was done by a company called Applidium — not VLC developer VideoLAN, which holds the copyright and licenses the code under the GPL. VideoLAN now says that since VLC for iOS includes Apple’s FairPlay DRM, it’s in violation of the GPL and must be pulled — and that “concerned users are advised to look for applications on more open mobile platforms for the time being.” That’s certainly fair enough, although we do find it a bit sensationalist that the takedown notice was sent to Apple and not Applidium, since it’s technically Applidium that violated the GPL. Then again, the statement was written by VideoLAN developer R

Posted by on November 1, 2010. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry