NetworkWorld reports that RealNetworks, makers of RealPlayer and now RealDVD, have launched a lawsuit against the MPAA.

Apparently tired of waiting to be sued by the motion picture industry over its new DVD-to-PC copying software, RealNetworks this morning announced that it will file a preemptive legal action of its own in an attempt to establish the product’s legality.

I wonder how this will end.

• NetworkWorld.com
• Slashdot

OStatic reports that Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has decided to partner with Fluendo and CyberLink to sell proprietary codecs and DVD playback functionality, respectively.

They could have taken the approach that every last Ubuntu user is vested in the “free as in speech” aspect of open source and does not own a single piece of media in a proprietary format. That would have been seen through immediately as either a blatant lie or delusional thinking. Or they could have thumbed their noses at the intellectual property laws in several countries, and refused to offer a legal alternative on the grounds that the laws are simply restrictive and misguided.

The laws are misguided. They are restrictive. They are still legally binding, though, and it is not Canonical’s call to encourage (or require) that any Linux user violate them. For this reason, Canonical is doing the right thing in offering a legal alternative.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this.  I’m guessing that Canonical wants to fend off potential lawsuits now that Ubuntu is becoming more popular.  I recall Fedora doing something similar a while ago with Codec Buddy, although Fedora has never included proprietary codecs in their repositories to begin with.

• OStatic
• Canonical Blog
• Slashdot

The first alpha of Amarok 2.0 has been released.

New fascinating look: With the use of vector graphics, artwork looks crispier than ever, while color scheme independence guarantees it’ll look gorgeous no matter what.

Innovative user interface: Don’t miss several UI innovations like the Plasma powered Context View, new space efficient playlist, and amazing PopUp Dropper! The new Context View allows you to show all the context information you care about. We expect a lot of Plasmoids to be provided by the community in the first months after the release of Amarok 2. PopUp Dropper lets you do different things with your files by simply dragging them to the context view and dropping them on the appropriate area. Append songs to the playlist, copy songs to your local collection, transfer them to your mobile device and edit their tags are just some of the operations PopUp Dropper offers.

Almighty Internet service framework: Seamlessly integrate online music repositories and web services into your musical experience. With online sources like Magnatune, Last.fm, Jamendo, Ampache and MP3tunes you’ll be supplied with music 24/7.

Powerful scripting: The new scripting interface is fully based on Qt technology. The APIs are being redesigned, so script authors are asked to wait at least for the first beta release before porting their scripts.

Dynamic and new Biased playlists: Let Amarok choose the music for you. In this alpha you will see the foundations of the new Biased playlists which in the future will let you specify dynamic playlist for any occasion.

Mobile devices support: We are working hard to make sure you’ll easily and efficiently access music on your media devices within Amarok, and integrate it with your music collection.

Cross platform: This Alpha release lays the groundwork for a release on all major platforms. Future releases will feature Linux, Windows and MacOS versions.

Yay!  I love Amarok!  Note: “The artwork looks crispier than ever.”

• Amarok
• Amarok Blog