KISS accused by the mplayer team of GPL violations

[virux]

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design6/news.html


2004.01.02, Friday :: Another GPL violation: Kiss Technology
posted by Gabucino

Basically Kiss Technology is specialized in particular kinds of media hardware, namely DVD and MPEG-4 players, set-top-boxes, and such.

There is nothing wrong with that.

However, if a careless user initiates a string search in one of their firmwares:

$ strings KiSS_DP-508_FW2.7.4_PAL.iso | grep -A 3 -B 6 MPSub
Microdvd
Subrip
Subviewer
Sami
Vplayer
Unknown
MPSub
Subviewer 2.0
Subrip 0.9
Jacosub

Running the same command on the MPlayer binary:

$ strings /usr/bin/mplayer | grep -B 8 mpsub -A 4
<...>
L>microdvd
subrip
subviewer
sami
vplayer
dunnowhat
mpsub
subviewer 2.0
subrip 0.9
jacosub
<...>

You can also check the subreader.h or the subreader.c files in MPlayer sources.

As you can see, the KiSS firmware contains the subtitle formats in the very same order as we do. The thing that really catches the eye is the MPSub format, which is our own subtitle format, which hasn't been used anywhere else so far.

Another nice nit is the "dunnowhat" AKA "unknown" subtitle format, whose name remains unknown for us - thus the naming. It's the same in KiSS' files.

This of course is hardly enough for a proof. What really makes it a one hundred percent stealing is quite obvious: the sscanf() calls which contains the patterns of the subtitle formats known to the subtitle parser, in order to identify the chosen subtitle file.

Let's take an easy example:

$ strings fileplayer.bin
<...>

%d:%d:%d.%d %d:%d:%d.%d
@%d @%d
%d:%d:%d:
%d:%d:%d
Dialogue: Marked
%d,%d,"%c
FORMAT=%d
FORMAT=TIM%c
-->>
<...>


$ strings subreader.o
<...>

%d:%d:%d.%d %d:%d:%d.%d
@%d @%d
%d:%d:%d:
%d:%d:%d
Dialogue: Marked
Dialogue:
%d,%d,"%c
FORMAT=%d
FORMAT=TIM%c
-->>
<...>



These are the patterns we use to identify a SAMI subtitle file. We have one more pattern in our parser, which was commited on 2003 July 20, in effect of supporting a new subtitle format, called "ASS". Kiss Tech's files are missing this one, so they must have lifted our code before that date.

Let's see another:

$ strings fileplayer.bin
<...>
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<...>

$ strings subreader.o
<...>
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<%*[tT]ime %*[bB]egin="%d:%d.%d" %*[Ee]nd="%d:%d.%d"%*[^<]<clear/>%n
<...>

These are the patterns we use to identify an RT subtitle file.

Every single one of their patterns match ours! This is not coincidence. This is stealing GPL code into a proprietary product! Kiss Technology failed to answer our inquiry for their source files (which they are obligated to provide), so this news entry is posted.

OMG

[Alxemi]

Yes, I saw it and I was going to post it here before I saw yours...
It´s not the first time we have this kind of things, XviD developers know it well. Anyway a GPL violation can be persecuted in the same way that piracy is, because is a copyright license (called copyleft because of the "special" copyright nature) violation. KISS people will release the code for sure (or will rewrite it).

[avih]

that's a real shame indeed. and a growing issue for usefull OSS projects... i wonder when the 1st trial of GPL (or others) code steal will arrive (excluding the SCO issue).

[edit]
@virux:
i suggest that you change the name of the thread to a more descriptive one. i.e. "KISS accused by the mplayer team of GPL violations"
[/edit]

[Alxemi]

Talking about this question, RMS told us in a spanish metting that a GPL trial was never nedded. Code stealing can be easily demostrated, and companys knows that. With the proofs out, nobody wants a trial, they always released the code or wrote it again.

[Doom9]

they always released the code or wrote it again.

The Linksys routers and the SCO case proved that this is no longer the case.

[Alxemi]

In fact, linksys is a gpl-stealing case, and afaik is still an open case. It can be the first stealing case that needs a trial (hope not). But SCO is not a closing-free software case, it´s supposed to be a opening-closed software case, but it is just a big piece of FUD.

[gabest]

Good thing we still have our ASS

[mikeson]

Good one, Gabest!