InterVideo brings DVD functionality to Linux

From...

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 9:16 a.m. EDT (1316 GMT)

by Eileen Cohen

(IDG) -- There's no such thing as a slow news day in the world of Linux anymore. Blink, and you might miss something cool, useful, or mind-blowing. In late March, while Judge Jackson was putting the finishing touches on the verdict that was to bring jubilation to many throughout the land, a couple of news items surfaced that carry the promise of enhanced Linux functionality in two entirely separate spheres of use.

InterVideo -- maker of popular software DVD player/decoders for Windows -- announced on March 31 that it is developing LinDVD, a player/decoder for Linux. For $29, Intel-based Linux users with a DVD drive will be able to play back DVD movies, interactive DVD titles, MPEG video contents, and video CDs -- without a pricey hardware decoder card (only a few of which actually support Linux now). The multitudes who have been dual-booting Windows with Linux purely for the sake of watching movies will be able to boot that shady alter ego right out the door. Those who have been using the DeCSS hack as an expedient in the absence of any other choices may be happier with a full-featured and unambiguously legal alternative. And, most encouraging for the prospects for world domination, LinDVD's user-friendliness could give prospective Linux users -- those untapped millions -- one less reason to cling to the monopoly's wares.

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Joe Monastiero, InterVideo's vice president of sales and marketing, told LinuxWorld that LinDVD will have the same look and feel as WinDVD, its Windows counterpart, and that the goal is to duplicate that product's full feature set. LinDVD will be available on InterVideo's ecommerce site in the June timeframe," he said.

InterVideo has had preliminary talks with an open source sound company about taking advantage of a multichannel audio driver for Linux that that company has in the works. Monastiero predicted that "certainly before the end of the year there'll be multichannel capability." The multichannel version of LinDVD will go for $49.95.

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Having a major player (if you'll pardon the pun) in this market commit to a Linux product induced joyful noises from Linus Torvalds himself: "This is another exciting day for the Linux community. The OS continues to attract industry-leading software companies like InterVideo. Their digital video and audio products will greatly enhance the Linux multimedia experience." This enthusiasm is consistent with remarks Torvalds made in his keynote address at the February LinuxWorld Expo. At that event, he castigated the motion picture industry for its lawsuit against distributors of DeCSS and said he hoped that commercial companies would fill the need in the event that the MPAA and DVD Copy Control Association suits succeed.

InterVideo has made it clear that it is issuing a legal player that won't push the DVD industry's buttons -- that is, one that licenses the Content Scrambling System (CSS) -- and the software thus cannot be open source. So, while LinDVD will address the very lacuna that inspired DeCSS, it may not please everybody. Open source purists may prefer to keep using DeCSS and to wait for the fruits of projects that are under development with LiViD and OpenDVD.org. In any case, the availability of a commercial Linux DVD player at this stage of the game doesn't nullify the enormity of the intellectual property rights issues raised by the pending lawsuits and by the unconscionable treatment of DeCSS hacker Jon Johansen. At this point, the members of the Linux community have a lot more stake in DVD matters than whether or not they can watch Galaxy Quest (the DVD release date for which is May 2, by the way) while doing a compile.

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Sony, HP push rewritable DVD
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Linux hits the desktop
April 20, 1999

DVD and the digital copyright act
(Network World Fusion)
Recordable DVD battle kicks off
(IDG.net)
Linux users to protest Copyright Act
(IDG.net)
Of copies and rights
(Network World Fusion)
Free speech or DVD piracy?
(LinuxWorld)
Web-connected DVD tool now shipping
(GameProWorld)
DVD vendors regroup on copy protection
(PC World)
DVD hits the big time
(IDG.net)

InterVideo

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