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RealNetworks Sues Microsoft Over Antitrust Issues
jamacdon writes "Yahoo! has an article about RealNetworks Inc. filing an antitrust suit against Microsoft, claiming that MS has violated antitrust laws. This claim appears to revolve around how PC makers are restricted from including competing media players. Very similiar to the Internet Explorer issue, but different content. Will the results be the same?"
Real has a case there, because Microsoft is using the same tried-and-true approach that made IE what it is today. And the fact that they make it almost impossible to remove WMP in XP will make the case that much more believable.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
Maybe, but the situations are different. Real Media is still very much alive, while Netscape was pretty much dead in the Windows world when the anti-trust lawsuit finally was decided.
Dear Real:
We still remember when you were selling our personal data. So even if we could get your player preinstalled in our computers, it would be the first to be removed.
Your player is complete bloatware with one of the most misleading installs ever. thanks for the headache you rat bastards.
Yeah, it's similar to the IE issue, but I always prefered Netscape/Mozilla to IE (still do). With media players, though, my favourite is actually Windows Media. I used to like Real, but it's just SO bloated now.
That said, I probably only used Windows Media Player in the first place because I already had it.
Netscape had the perfect case against Microsoft: "we'll cut off their air supply." What came of that? MS was found guilty, but the govt. decided not to do anything about it. How do you go up against that?
Having RealPlayer pre-installed is like being born with terminal cancer.
- Sherman
This is like a steel cage match between bin Laden and Hitler. Who the hell do I root for?
Is there a scenario where both can lose?
Here's to hoping that the courthouse explodes.
Tal
"Study your math, kids. Key to the universe." -The Archangel Gabriel
Seems to me the DOJ is doing one lame ass job in enforcing antitrust laws.
Ask yourself, how FAIR can competition be when one application gets deep penetration into the consumer market while others are locked out on purpose?
eTrade SUCKS
On the one hand, microsoft using it's monopoly is a bad thing.
On the other hand, the sooner real networks dies and takes their horrible, ad-driven software with them, the better.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
does the "can't be prosecuted for the same crime more than once" rule apply here? hasn't ms already gone through this same essential complaint?
Who gave and who will give yet more money to the Bush election campaigns? There's your answer.
-Alex
the more companies that take microsoft to court over anti-trust issues, the more people are going to sit up and notice that microsoft is exploiting the market in more ways then one.
Warning: Excessive usage of stupidity may be harmful to your health
Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, MSN Messenger, "Microsoft Compressed Folders"
and I'm sure there's more.
But the respective competitors, Netscape/Mozilla, Quicktime, AIM/Yahoo/ICQ, and WinZip suffer directly because of this.
Take Apple for instance, with Aladdinsys's Stuffit Expander. Instead of making their own, they just licensed to include Stuffit with the OS, which has undoubtedly lead to that company with good buisness.
*sigh*
-Henry
--- #@$DF@#2%@^%3^&*$%FRHG%%[NO CARRIER]
Is there a scenario where both can lose?
Double frag!
If Real didn't make their player so goddamn intrusive when it comes to computer use, I'd be happy to support them on this. I cannot stand the fact that whenever I launch the RealOne player, it puts its advertisement programme into the background, and I have to kill it and remove it out of the registry to from stop it from starting up whenever I login.
Microsoft is in the wrong in this situation, but Real is worse by selling personal information, having a player that eats more than its fair share of needed memory, and including what may be spyware with its software. If this were Apple and Quicktime, I'd be more willing to go and support them on this.
must i be stuck choosing between the lesser-of-two-evils again?
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
I don't know but given the speed of our court system, Microsoft's vast resources and the inventible appeals, I'd say we'll find out in about 5 - 7 years.
One could argue that Microsoft uses their monopoly position to strongly urge the OEMs not to include Real software. This would certainly be a violation of the settlement. It seems that Microsoft is still pulling the strings when OEMs need to decide what software to include with their computers. That's not a good thing.
I dunno, I think that the real reason Real Player died out is more or less due to a lower quality program. True, Microsoft's bundling may have caused Real Player usage to decline prematurely, but it was inevitable that it would die out sooner or later.
"In a conference call with reporters, Kimball said RealNetworks damages could exceed $1 billion measured in lost business stemming from Microsoft's actions. The suit also seeks injunctive relief to prevent "further illegal conduct" by Microsoft."
Lost revenue because Microsoft made an anti-trust move, or because Microsoft made a better product?
"Derp de derp."
Mind your own business. Never in my life I've seen a piece of software as intrusive, spyware and ad-ridden and poorly written as Real Player. Face it, fellas, even if you force Microsoft to bundle RealPlayer with Windows it isn't gonna fly. First thing the customers will do is they will turn this piece of crap off, because it will try feed insane amounts of ads to them and pop up the god damn notification thingy to remind you that even though it's not doing anything useful at the time it's still taking up 10M of RAM and some processor resources while also trying to upsell you on the crap you could care less about.
Good god, I don't want them to win. I'd hate to have to remove this shit from my newly purchased PC.
My dislike of microsoft is easily outdone via real and their wonderful ad ridden software. Go microsoft!
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. Lillian Hellman (1905 - 1984), The Little Foxes, 1939
How are Real's formats any more proprietary than Microsoft's?
RealPlayer still competes with Windows Media Player over common formats like MPEG and MP3.
It no longer has spyware. Fud. Don't comment on Real Pasted on Realplayer, look at the Helix project.
what else is new? companies innovate, microsoft takes credit for their success.
http://www.geocities.com/baddsectorr
Try specing out a Home/Home office Dell PC where they DON'T CRAM REAL PLAYER DOWN YOUR THROAT.
At least it's optional in the business computers. I really don't see that they have anything to complain about.
+5:offtopic,but anti-American
Question I ask is why can't I? Because Gates says it won't function afterwards? That sounds like a crock of sh*t to me! Another anti-trust case just means more money loses for MS.
Real is evil. They have been caught twice gathering data from their users without permission. Their spyware installs background tasks in Windows and their company is full of arrogant middle managers that deserve to clean up after fry cooks. Netscape died because they stopped making a decent product. Netscape 6 was the worst crap ever released. Had Netscape been able to sustain their product excellence then they would not have lost to a lunbering slow moving leviathon like MS. Case in point is the Mozille/Firebird browser that rocks and kicks sand in the face of IE. MS does bad things but that is not the sole reason why Netscape is toast. Netscape mostly did it to themselves with just bad product releases.
IT'S NOT FAIR!
We have to steal our users' privacy to make any money!
WE'LL SUE!
This lawsuit is crap. This is not like the browser wars where microsoft took on netscape and used it's power to crush them. Real player is just some bad proprietary format that people don't like. The audio was bad and the video was horrible. They never took off because no one distributed their formats because of choice. And I remember on old windows versions how microsoft included real player, but then since no one wants it anymore, no one cares that it's gone.
I'd like to see where they could come up with "billions of dollars of damages" on a free player. What, they were going to rake in billions from their expensive encoders and streaming software? Real's out because of divx, mpeg, and quicktime, not microsoft.
And how many times have people here gone through the task of removing the real player? I think of it as the original spyware, tough to kill. You couldn't pay me to put it on my computer.
Real's worst enemy has always been Real. If Real went of out business tomorrow, there would be a collective shrug felt across the world. If they offered something really innovative and didn't beat you over the head with ads and spyware, I'd perhaps be a little more sensitive to their self-created plight.
Its a pity that they didnt coordinate all of these at once. You know if they had filed suit against Microsoft from multiple angles (Internet, AV Media, etc. (i am sure there will be more down the line)) it would have had a much more devastating effect and had much more of a chance of stringent regulations being impossed on microsoft. but no one takes the path of the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
my new Dell came with Windows Mediaplayer and Realplayer installed. Dell are pretty much the jewel in the MS consumer crown as far as OEMs go, and if they can do it, I'd wager that Real are having a tantrum over nothing.
In any case, realistically. How are Mediaplayer and Realplayer actually competing? There's a lot of content out there that requires one or the other player. Pulling QuickTime into the equation and I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a machine that doesn't have all three players installed. I mean look at the BBC news site - all Realplayer... do they really think that people shut themselves off to content because of affiliation with a certain free player? I think not...
Personally I think the antitrust thing is getting way out of hand - go out and make deals with companies to use your player you retards! And of all the media players I have installed, Real is the one that tits me off, because it's so damn intrusive. Bastards.
Use Media Player Classic. No, it's not actually Microsoft's old Media Player. It just looks like it.
As long as you have Real's software installed (or just the appropriate DLLs), you can play Windows Media, Real Video. Quictime too, if you have that installed.
Now if only new systems came set up like that, where one player could play everything, users could actually benefit.
But then pigs might start sprouting wings.
How is this insightful? What exactly does the nature of Real media have to do with Microsoft's strong-arm tactics to exclude competing players using leverage of WinOS?
I dislike Real Player for many reasons, but the open/closed nature of their media has absolutely nothing to do with how it's distributed.
Granted I would not wish Real Networks on anyone. Frankly I hope they lose, it looks like they realized their model sucks and are falling back on the SCO model of income by litigation.
Whats REAL going to claim in court? That their software is better than Windows Media? Get real, I don't think even the most anti-MS zealot could make that claim with a straight face. I spent half a day ridding my machines of Real Software, let alone trying to stop their damn spam afterward.
Oh, lest I forget, it is eveel Microsoft this time.
Fine, why not encourage these developers to develop for Linux instead? If their software is technically superior and wanted then this is the idea community for it.
Frankly I have little problem with incorporating common items into an OS... and a media player is a common item, let alone one has been in there for ages anyway.
Are we to establish two sets of rules? One for people who have lots of marketshare and one for those who don't? Do you see anyone crying over developers who lost out to Apple incorporating some of their great ideas into X?
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Judge: Members of the jury, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty? ... [buffering]
Jury: Your honour, we find the defendant
Nothing is so smiple that it can't be screwed up.
Why does it matter what they include in their products? It is their product!!
I can't think of any other product in this world that allows for OTHER companies to tell the manufacture what it needs in it..
If people wanted the crappy real networks crap, they'd download it!
Same thing with Netscape!
You know a program REALLY sucks when...
Simply because both Windows Mediaplayer and Realplayer have their own proprietary formats that have to be played on each. Chances are most people have both installed.
.com?
If Real want to make money, instead of arsing around in the courts, they should be trying to make companies provide content in their proprietary format.
Oh hang on a second, trying to make people use your product is called business isn't it?
Real don't seem to have the hang of business yet, but what do you expect from a
If this is a repeat of Netscape vs. Microsoft. It means two things.
1) Real is in a last gasp for survival, and this is all they have left.
2) The court case will drag out until Real is bankrupt and out of business, so this case doesn't really matter. It will be resolved too late.
Cheers!
TO: Real Networks
SUBJECT: Fuck You All
I am holding myself back in the most intense way at the moment.
I don't care if this is the wrong address to send this to. Your website is a labyrinth of misdirection in which finding the simple thing you want is nigh-impossible. This, after about 20 clicks, was the first email address I came to. If you, as the person receiving this letter, have a shred of humanity left, you will submit this to the proper people. And now, on to my letter.
Where do you people get off?
My task: download Realplayer in order to view some streaming content. A simple project, one would say. Well, first you have to wade through the aforementioned sea of misdirection, all of it aimed at extracting your visa number to buy the completely useless realplayer plus. I realize you people need to make some money, but save it for the server business - it's bad enough that back in the day, you were inferior to several other streaming technologies, but somehow, like scum in water, you rose to the top. Leave the users who are stuck with your products out of your sick little power games.
All I want is Realplayer Basic, to play realmedia, and ONLY realmedia. I am not interested in realjukebox, realdownloadagent, or realbuttplug. I specified this when I was installing it. I also am not interested in having your inferior product play my mp3s, or any format other than your own. This was also specified when I installed. How difficult a concept is this? Anyone can grasp it. And I won't even get into the god-knows-how-many useless "subscribe to our spam service!" checkboxes I have to uncheck, including five which are HIDDEN AT THE BOTTOM OF A STACK OF UNCHECKED ONES. With each click, the bile rises higher in my throat. If I knew a satanist, I would have him summon demons to terrorize your offices.
So then, I go to launch an mp3 out of Agent, and not only does your software launch even though I SPECIFICALLY TOLD IT NOT TO DO THAT, but it's not even Realplayer - it's Realjukebox which I also SPECIFICALLY TOLD IT NOT TO INSTALL.
And here's the real point: if you're going to go ahead and do a fascist coup of my system's preferences and resources (getting your filthy little icons out of my system tray gets more difficult with each new version), why bother pretending that you are giving me a choice? Just go ahead and take it, save me the trouble of unchecking all those boxes and saying No 20 times. Just go ahead, play your little game, and let me get on with removing your annoying system resource wastes from my pristine desktop.
In closing, I would just like to say that I view your company as the most evil force operating on the internet today, and while I would end this with "may God have mercy on your souls" for anyone else (including Bill Gates), for you, I only pray that the people behind your software's design are raped by syphilitic camels at some point.
Burn in hell.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
Anyone here use RealPlayer?
...; there are a million reasons. I used to respect Real; they used to be a good company. But now that their marketshare has declined, they're going and taking advantage of all the people who do use RealPlayer. The only reason people bother having RealPlayer on their systems is to play streaming broadcasts encoded in Real codecs, and now, most sites offer streams in both Windows Media Player and Real formats. Look at Amazon, they offer samples from music cds in Real and WMP format.
Personally, I think it's a bloated piece of crudware. It pops up zillions of ads for garbage, the player's slow,
Anyway, this lawsuit has no merit. My Dell laptop came preloaded with MusicMatch, WMP, and RealOne! Three video/audio players! Nobody needs that much. Standardize on maximum 2. I uninstalled RealPlayer because it was so worthless...
Consider this two thumbs way way down for Real.
This is like a steel cage match between bin Laden and Hitler. Who the hell do I root for?
Y'know, I just pondered this for a moment, and find it somewhat odd...
Years ago, back in the prime of the dialup days, we just couldn't hate any company more than AOL. Anything involving them might as well have had leprosy, as far as geeks felt.
And yet now, with this tossup (WMP vs RealOne), I just realized that I currently use both a browser (Mozilla) and a media player (WinAmp) heavily funded by AOL.
Strange, how times can change. And yet, if you asked me my general opinion of AOL, I'd still say they suck - But I suppose I have to thank them for sponsoring two pretty nice programs.
Scary thought - Perhaps some day, we'll have to thank (gasp!) Microsoft for creating something nice for us? Eeeek. Time to go hide under the bed for a while.
I mean...seriously...as many have mentioned, RealPlayer is uber-shitty software. I use Windows Media Player when I'm at my parents' house using their XP machine because it's a decent program (forced DRM issues notwithstanding) and much better / less annoying than RealPlayer. If Windows Media Player weren't included with Windows, I probably would download and use something else, but it sure as hell wouldn't be RealPlayer. I wonder if Real is the right company to be suing over this.
From putting RealVirus, i mean RealPlayer on my new Inspiron
Teamwork is a bunch of people doing what I tell them.
One can only hope that this is a long, expensive legal battle that weakens both parties.
Once upon a time, a herpes virus decides to sue another herepes virus...
Nah, never mind.
Sigs are bad for your health.
Take Real player and install it on your Windows computer.
Go through umpteen levels of uninstalling their hooks until your system tray is empty of their filth and every single buried check box in their preferences has been set to NOT do bad things...what is left?
2 processes running in the background that you can NOT turn off! But, if you track them doan and delete them, everything still works. Can you say SPYWARE? I knew you could.
whether Bush wins the re-election ...
That's a bit like comparing apples and oranges, as I thought the ZIP file format was out in the open. Stuffit files may be proprietary (not sure). They did license Roxio CD burning software for XP, though.
This case is already decided, back in the DoJ antitrust suit. The judge ruled that MS took illegal predatory actions against Apple and Real. Ashcroft bent over backwards to let MS off the hook, but he couldn't stop other defendants from filing their own antitrust actions. So now that's what they're doing.
The eventual winner will be Apple. MS and Real will battle it out, leaving a big hole for QuickTime to drive right through.
After having the hell of actually installing Real and finding it dug itself deep and made the system about 20% slower I just went pack to WinAmp 2. Smaller, lighter and it works
Rgds
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
From the article: RealNetworks claims that Microsoft has used its monopoly power to restrict how PC makers install competing media players while forcing every user of Microsoft's ubiquitous Window's operating system to take Microsoft's media player, whether they want it or not.
Huh? How so? My Dell box came with Musicmatch, which last I checked was a "Media player". I think HP/Compaq boxes also ship with Musicmatch. I imagine Musicmatch pays for this OEM relationship... is Real simply not interested in paying? They do seem to prefer to keep their lawyers employed at Real...
Granted, the article didn't go into specifics about what MS is doing to tick Real off. But, what PCs don't ship with a media player in addition to WMP? What is Real's beef? Someone enlighten me.
Maybe software developers will realize this and stop developing for Microsoft platforms. What's the point, you'll never be able to put out anything that Microsoft can't replicate (read: steal) and maybe they'll start to develop for platforms that could use the talent.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
Of COURSE it's going to be the same. What, you think cantwell's going to make any difference? SHE WON'T!!
Christ jesus; slow news day, taco, or what!?!?
Real media player comes with AOL, and AOL install files are preinstalled on every Windows XP machine. It comes part of the default setup on most PC's. I guess every failing compnay wants a peice of a compnay that is doing well.
Pun inadvertent, but what the heck
I sic'd the state attorney general on them when they had a premium service with few-click signup for a free trial. To unsubscribe, there was a web page. That did nothing. After I entered my unsubscribe info, the page digested it and then gave me a phone number to call.
Completely bogus barrier to cancel. The AG contacted them, and they replied that it's an accepted practice by such paragons of virtue as AOL.
Suicide bomb. He'll take himself out along with Hitler. Therefore the scenario is complete.
Couldn't have said it better about the absolute PITA that Real is for just installing it to look at some Real only content that for some strange reason some websites prefer.
My first reaction to this article was the same, oooh look, someones revenue is drying up, lets do what those clever SCO people are doing and start sueing. That said i don't particularly like Windows Media Player (although its nothing near as awful as Real).
The Stuffit format is patented, so Apple couldn't have integrated it even if they wanted to.
Quite frankly, with a free, open, and virutally universal standard like Zip, it's ridiclous that it took so many years for Microsoft to build in support. It certainly would have been 1000x more useful than the crap in Windows Media Player.
WinZip is just a wrapper around open source MIT code, so fuck 'em.
Skeletor was evil. His salvage timber rider, tagged onto an unrelated bill, was unmitigated evil. It permitted, without the usual reviews, the removal of trees "dying or in danger of dying" to reduce the risk of forest fires (or the risk of reduced campaign contributions). If you take a chainsaw to a tree, it's "in danger of dying" which is exactly how he meant it, but he also intended that it would be misunderstood and therefor passed.
Rot in hell, Slade!
MS ended up paying 750 million to AOL. Thats a pretty hefty penalty even for a company as large as Microsoft considering it was just over a web browser. While I agree MS did some (and still does) anti competitive behavior, I also think Netscape got lazy at the time and stopped putting out products that were as good.
Back on topic, Real is in the same situation. They offer no advantages over Quicktime or MS media player. A lot of techies view them negatively because of the history of violating customer privacy, and installing additional spyware.
Don't forget about AIM and ICQ. Many geeks may hate AOL, but they still use their IM network.
Real, at least for their server software is (or was...) almost entirely a Linux shop. Real helped Linux make inroads into the server market at a LOT of companies. I'm still under NDA so I'm only mentioning two of the ones I could find press releases for quickly, but this includes companies with great big satelite networks (PanAmSat for one), a couple of great big phone companies (like Deutshce Telecom)...
Real also helped a lot in the fight to get Linux drivers for a whole bunch of video capture cards...
...doesn't excuse the shit they pulled, but...
I want a new world. I think this one is broken.
Not that I have a problem with either of these companies, but Real is really just being stupid about this. If this whole things follows through, what's to stop similar lawsuits, with other applications? Is Microsoft simply to include every freakin' competing application on it's install disc There are reasons why company's products don't get used as much as others....distributing it using a competitor's resources isn't going to make the software sucks less, it'll just get the unsuspecting casual user to use it.
and nobody even wants to install it for fear of it taking over your computer.
With all the reboot I have do with Windoze XP and time I lost rebooting and patching and rebooting.
Virul attack , blue screen of death
I am suing M$ for one million dollars.
Muhahahaaahhha
I don't think even the most anti-MS zealot could make that claim with a straight face.
Real player sure works a lot better on my computer than Windows Media Player. In fact, it works an infinite percent better becuase WMP won't run at all.
Of course, I'm not using Windows.
Granted, that might look like zealotry, but that just shows ignorance to call it that. The fact of the matter is that one works (although, yes, it really is bad) and the other fails to do anything at all.
Don't label something "offtopic" unless you know the topic well enough to tell what's on topic.
sure, give them a pair of rocketlaunchers
The Microsoft compressed folders is actually licensed technology from ZIP. There getting a chuck of change for letting MS use zip technology. It the same as what Apple is doing. Just making sure the facts are straight.
Sorry guys, but I'm with Microsoft on this one. Their business tactics may be dirty, but at least Media Player 6.4 is a decent piece of software that doesn't force you to navigate a labyrinth on Microsoft's website to download.
Then, of course, we have Real's annoying default settings that take your personal information, enable that stupid start-centre (or whatever they call it), and that ugly green UI.
I'd be happy to see Real Networks die!
"Smoking helps you lose weight - one lung at a time" -- A. E. Neumann
This is like suing Microsoft for perpetuating its monopoly on tires when Real is making retarded oxen. Yes, they both move things around, but unlike their V3 browsers, MS' product is actually useful, and there is a more widely distributed media player, Quicktime.
I would love for AOL or Yahoo to do the same about MSN. That's even more intrusive than WMP.
Years ago, back in the prime of the dialup days, we just couldn't hate any company more than AOL. Anything involving them might as well have had leprosy, as far as geeks felt.
And yet now, with this tossup (WMP vs RealOne), I just realized that I currently use both a browser (Mozilla) and a media player (WinAmp) heavily funded by AOL.
Strange, how times can change.
Plenty of precedent for this.
For instance: Back before home computers, when minicomputers were young (and expensive), IBM was the monster. The "Immense Blue Mother". Locked competing peripheral manufacturers and mainframe makers out of the market. Other monopolistic offenses too numerous to go into here.
But that was a quarter century or more ago, and a lot has happened since. Like the time they opened their home-computer archetecture at the same time Apple closed theirs, spawning the PC Clone market and bringing the price of home computers far below that of the cheapest car.
Now they're pouring over a Billion Buck$ into open source and are the point team for defending the freedom of Linux and tempering the GPL in court. Meanwhile, SCO has gone from a Linux promoter to the dark side of the farce.
Cha-cha-cha-cha-CHAIN-GES!
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
> forcing MS branded everything is just bad buisness
"bad business" for whom? Certainly not Microsoft, and they're the only ones they care about.
Are we to establish two sets of rules? One for people who have lots of marketshare and one for those who don't?
This was done about 100 years ago.
It's called anti-trust law.
I disagree...
Have any of you used RealPlayer lately? While WMP 9 has been getting more and more functional in terms of quality and features (surround-sound media formats, HD-quality video, built-in ripping and encoding, a usable Media Library), RealPlayer has become progressively bloated, ad-ridden, and full of spy-ware. The fact that I have to search through the registry to disable the stupid "Real Message Center" background app is infuriating to me, and is the major reason why I avoid it and tell others to do the same.
First of all, why must the two be mutually exclusive? I have both of them installed on my PC quite happily. When I double-click on a RealMedia file, the Windows Shell launches RealPlayer. When I double-click on a WindowsMedia file, the shell launches WMP 9. How is this "lock-out"?
Second of all, how can there really be "lock-out" when there is so much competition in the Media Player market? Aside from iTunes for Windows, there is also Winamp 2/3/5, QuickTime, Sonique, Media Player Classic, and several other lesser-known ones. They all work great on Windows, and co-exist just fine with Media Player.
The only argument I see here is Real whining that Microsoft should have to distribute RealPlayer for them. In other words, Media Player has an unfair advantage because it ships with Windows. Well, duh. But now the government should protect RealPlayer because it is not installed with Windows?
Here's a suggestion for Real: Make a better player, and you'll gain market share the old-fashioned way. Through customers who WANT to use your software, not just because it's there.
This is like a steel cage match between bin Laden and Hitler. Who the hell do I root for?
Is there a scenario where both can lose?
Yes.
They could take it to court.
B-)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
The point is, suing them just costs you a lot of money, but you still have to live with them. Moving to another OS means you can ignore all their antitrust garbage, and stop throwing money into their already-fat Microsoft Wallet (TM).
frob
//TODO: Think of witty sig statement
Um.. Compressed Folders uses the winzip code, licensed winzip.
Mozilla is no longer funded by AOL. They scraped Netscape.
and AOLserver which is a pretty interesting opensource project now. such a confusing world
This is the first time I've hoped that Microsoft would squish a company out of existence! I can deal with all the misleading installation options, hard to remove processes, and other subterfuge. But I nearly blew my top when my parents called me up asking about how to buy Realplayer because they wanted to watch a video. They could honestly not find the link for the free download, and didn't even realize that there was one.
Why does anyone serve Real files at all? What I don't get is why PUBLICLY FUNDED organizations like NPR use Real which block saving the files instead of providing MPEGS available for download.
Anyway, rant mode off.
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
Granted, I can't find myself crying over the fact that Microsoft will have to settle this out-of-court for probably $250 million in cold hard cash, not to mention EU penalties. Microsoft did penalize OEM's prior to the anti-trust settlement on bundling Real products as well as other software such as Netscape. It is a proven fact. However, as the chorus goes here on Slashdot, Real Player sucks. The video quality is sub-par at any level. If Apple would only stop charging for full-screen QuickTime, we'd all be better off and there would be more migration to QuickTime. Perhaps Apple should just take Real over and migrate the subscription services directly over to QuickTime and then concentrate on getting QuickTime shipped on every PC sold...
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
Please cut and copy the above the parent post to" public_relations@real.com or any or all e-mail shown here: http://www.realnetworks.com/company/contact/index. html#feedback
I've had loads of bother getting Real Helix Producer Basic working with XP. It falls over no matter what I try. Now it could be that it's a pile of buggy rubbish (Helix Producer), but then if might be Microsoft throwing a spanner in the works. Wouldn't be the first time they screwed a competitor (see DrDos).
From a CNET article about the timing of the lawsuit:
"Maybe Real has seen something in the beta code, and they don't want to see the playing field tilted unfairly... Imagine if SP2 were to decide in the name of security that a RealNetworks stream or a QuickTime stream was suspect, and Windows needed to inspect it every couple of minutes. That would probably degrade the experience significantly for people using those formats."
Or... Maybe the new firewall settings might keep their crappy player from calling home every five seconds? Or maybe users will start realizing what's happening when the firewall constantly whines about it? That could cause problems... even my mom would call me asking how to uninstall Real player. But knowing her she would just ask how to disable the firewall, come to think of it.
My prediction is that the the trial will go like this:
Opening arguments: RealPlayer lawyer gives eloquent speech on how Microsoft is an evil monopoly that gave realplayer the shaft.
Microsoft lawyer gets up and asks, "ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have any of you actually used realplayer? If one of them has, chances are the jury will be a hung jury. If all of them have, you can count on a quick dismissal.
I have blog like everyone else
I hate how realplayer loves taking over your startup (as others have reported) and loves muscling in on other programs. I'm sorry but Win Media Player 6, and Media Player Classic are the singular best media players out there
Real networks saw AOL get three quarters of a billion dollars for netscape, and now they want their money too. How does this help consumers, epsecially given Real network's software refuses to uninstall itself without drastic measures?
Vote for Pedro
RealPlayer is available for Linux. They even provide binaries for many different processor types; I use PowerPC, so a fair amount of commercial Linux software doesn't work for me, but RealPlayer does. It's also better than the Windows version, I might add; rather like the Mac version, I've heard.
Bít, zabít, jen proto, ze su liska!
no, no, no, no, no, no, no!!!
people watch "Double Jeopardy" and they think they understand law...
If I were to steal from a store, and I was punished, and then I stole from them again, I would be again punished.
However, if i stole from a store, they punished me, and then later decided to punish me again, they could NOT.
If I kill a man, that doesn't mean I can never be tried for murder again, just not for the murder of that person more than once.
If I kept Netscape from competing, was tried and punished, then kept Real from competing, I could be tried and punished.
YOU SUCK BALLS!
Noo one has yet to sue ford for including there own radios in their cars. Windows is MS's OS, they should be able to include anything they want in it so long as they give you a choice, and to remove media player its as simple as deleting msdxm.ocx .
For a long time I had to thank AOL for running mirrors.aol.com, too, but since then it's become devoid of anything I actually want to download. Now that Mozilla is on its own, and I've gotten tired of Winamp, AOL is back on my shitlist.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why does real suck? ... I can turn off most of the spy features.
Case in point.
There is no longer anything that can be done with computers that is nontrivial and clearly legal. -- Paul Phillips
Hate RealOne with a passion hotter than the sun?
Try Real Alternative.
Worked for me.
I work in a place that is pretty much completely an MS shop. It's interesting just how vendor-locked a lot of people are simply because they've never explored or been exposed to other things. The other developers there get all excited when they get their MSDN subscription in and sometimes it's really hard not to scream as I see the disks they are rifling through and grinning because they got them "free" (development use only.) He's rifling through WinXP, Visual Studio .NET "architect", SQL Server, MS Office...etc. And all that's going through my mind is "Wow. I already have Boa Constructor, MySQL and Open Office etc..."
But sometimes it seems there's no point in getting into it over alternatives with people that have already invested years of their career to being locked to one vendor.
It reminds me of when Chuck Whitlocks from 20/20 went to one of those pyramid scams and stood up and told all of the stock holders there that it was a scam. Rather than appreciating his advice, they were practically screeching at him to shut up and leave. He was right, but they had already invested so much, and the only way that they could keep *some* of what they invested was if other people bought into it and invested.
A lot of microsofties I know are a lot like the pyramid scam investors. They don't want to hear anything that hints that they made a mistake when they invested their entire career and education in one set of technologies developed by one company.
They don't want to hear anything that might imply that from the very core of their business, Microsoft's products are simply not the only, nor even the best choice out there.
They really don't want to believe that the tide is turning and that maybe someday that MCSE isn't going to be worth the paper it's written on.
They've invested too much to acknowledge that. Acknowledging that means having to be wrong...and having to start back at being a newbie.
...does that make me dirty?
-- A cat is no trade for integrity!
I think the reason behind making things like this bundled with the OS is people complain otherwise. I would love it if I could install an OS with all the special software I want right off the bat (many linux distros do this) but without the hassle of going through to pick the software I want
anyway, these lawsuits are only coming up because people want the ease while the companies want the money
whoops. curse that html formatting...
Well, ignoring that $1 million US they gave them next year and the $1 million they get from AOL agian next year...
Hi,
w ww.softrom.ro/11098.asp+%22Real+Alternative%22&hl= en&ie=UTF-8.
Check out http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:fPMiHUg_FyYJ:
Then get the mirror at http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/finalbuilds.htm. Enjoy!
Didn't windows 3.11 come with a media player? Isn't it a little late to be suing for it?
On the other hand, other than OO.o, the packages you mentioned as alternatives can't hold a candle to the Microsoft offerings. Comparing BOA Constructor, an IDE for Python, to Visual Studio.NET Architect (which yes, is an IDE, but for more than one language, and the "Architect" package adds a bunch more tools as well), or MySQL to SQL Server is just ludicrous. Maybe next time you could pick better examples?
Before you put me in that same category and ignore me, let me say that I run both Windows and Linux and can appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of each platform. And no, I don't have an MCSE.
I have an idea. Microsoft should purchase all the governments of the world and then pass laws everywhere that no non-Microsoft product may be bought, sold, or used anywhere in the world. If someone needs a product that is not offered by Microsoft, too fucking bad.
Strange, how times can change. And yet, if you asked me my general opinion of AOL, I'd still say they suck - But I suppose I have to thank them for sponsoring two pretty nice programs.
I was working for a small fragment of Turner Broadcasting (owned by Time Warner) when the AOLTW merger happened. And I have to say from that experience, and from what else I've seen of AOL, they're not really evil. Chaotic Neutral, maybe.
Here's the thing... their main product sucks. It's dumped tons of people onto the internet that maybe we'd rather not have there. They've done their best to be the biggest, but mostly by littering our mailboxes, magazines, point-of-purchase displays, and what-have-you with coasters-I-mean-CDs.... which costs them money as much as it's a hassle for us.
They treat their employees fairly well, and have a basically honest and moral business philosophy. Their dealings with Time Warner, which were overly optimistic and misguided on both sides, were still up-front and didn't give me any ooky feeling. When we were directed to install AOL on every single computer in our office (bad, bad idea, and one they finally gave up on), their techs commiserated with ours over the difficulties of installing AOL in a network environment (the 6.0 install would hang if there was a network card installed. Always. Unless you installed 5.0 first.)
They're sort of like Electronic Arts... nice company to work for (in some ways), but I wouldn't want to do business with them. Though with AOL it seems to be general ineptitude balanced by blind luck, rather than anything malicious.
Don't you wish your girlfriend was a geek like me?
Burn him!
That way, the outcome is *sure* to be in Microsoft's favor once again.
We've seen them sued for antitrust before. DOJ jumped all over them, proved their case and what did Microsoft get? Any meaningful punishment? Any breakup of their software/hardware/services hydra? Nope.
It's still the same big blue monster in the same zippered plastic suit, trying to take over the world as we know it. Unfortunately, we've not found any kind of monster to throw at it to get the bugger to march off back into the murky depths from which it arose.
is the last version that didn't completely suck. It's the only version I'll install.
Give it a fake e-mail address, tell it fuck off in the preferences and you're good to go.
You can still find it on-line. And there's no compatibility issues....yet.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
here's a photo i took of a prank i did at their deliveries gate: http://a.dorm.duke.edu/images/real-buffering.jp g for these stuck on windows, there's a great reverse engineering of the real codec. it looks like the Media Player classic, and is called "Real Alternative". clever, too! http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/finalbuilds.ht m about half way down the page
Guess who owns the realnetworkssucks.com domain reg? The White House IT staff's favorite site, and porn peddler, whitehouse.com (yes, note the .com) (discriminatory CAPTCHA required). Guess I can't reg it. realnetworkssucks.com links to the sucks500.com site...
[mods shouldn't mod your stupid sig up along with you insightful comment.]
AOL did not create ICQ - they just bought it.
M$ virtual owns the world.. so....
Wasn't ICQ done by an Israeli company? Too lazy to Google..
Scary thought - Perhaps some day, we'll have to thank (gasp!) Microsoft for creating something nice for us? Eeeek. Time to go hide under the bed for a while.
/.ers would argue otherwise, of course. :D
Some of us would argue this already happened, pretty recently, with the Xbox...
Obviously many other
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
That's the only problem they have. They have been literally forcing windows and mac users to upgrade every 6-12 months for years, to a more bloated, buggier product. People stopped using their junk unless they had to. Meanwhile WMP went from an utter piece of shite to an ok player. People would actually choose to use it occasionally if it wasn't so riddled with Microsoft spyware.
These days, now that we've learned that the gee wiz of having something to do with computers isn't enough to spell success, there are a few very simple rules for doing business that I wish companies would learn.
1. Don't piss off your customers
2. Your product, perceived or otherwise, has to be better then your competitors.
Real follows neither of these rules, and this lawsuit appears to be nothing more then a last ditch effort to gain capital. It is a reality that if a company has no other business model then to offer an inferior product and expect customers to either pay for it or suffer egregious violations of their privacy, when they are a few mouse clicks away from something better that is free, that company will fail. It's just common sense.
Normally a company run with such a bad business model would die away without notice, but Real has entrenched itself on the server end with its proprietary format. They have this because they were one of the first (if not the first) to show up with streaming audio back in the day.
I can remember responding with amazement the first time I got streaming real audio. They were the first through the door and got the brand reconciliation, bringing organizations like NPR with them with this new technology. And they squandered it away. It's sad, but it's the real world (excuse the pun).
Unless Real can come up with a technology that bests the free alternatives in quality and does so without being intrusive to the users privacy or computer system, they will die, lawsuit or otherwise.
The Internet is generally stupid
The Helix Player Project looks like it is both open and (optionally) closed. Other projects use similar dual open and closed licences.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
maybe an ice age. Or a flood.
Have you been to Southern California? Ever hiked in the hills? The chaparral is a biome of tinder. When the rains come in the wet winters, it produces growth that then dries out all spring and summer, leading to a tinderbox. Some of the plants have flammable sap and some species require fire for seeds to germinate. There is also a characteristic weather pattern of hot, high winds (the Santa Ana's) which fan flames, if there are any.
There is also no commercial logging in Southern California. So who is going to thin the brush?
It is also stupid to suggest that logging could remove significant quantities of this tinder. It is probably stupid to suggest this as a means of fire prevention ANYWHERE, and I think Slade knew that. Are we really going to selectively thin in every stand of every forest in the U.S.? Not feasible. And Slade knows it. He was just using wildfires to give his contributers a loophole so they could rape public lands without hinderance. Once it was passed, Slade admitted, with glee, that he'd pulled a fast one. The law means what it means. There are no proven immortal species of trees, especially when they are exposed to pests, illness, and vandalism.
This was done about 100 years ago.
....by Republicans....who were also environmentalists.....
:)
It's called anti-trust law.
my how times change
This is going to have no "Real" results that make a difference. You have to have the right combination of factors and sustain it for a very long time : company management with a backbone, judges with a clue, companies with the bucks to take it on, lawyers with understanding of technology, judges with sufficient understanding of technology. None of these actions, (EU, et al), will make any real, sustainable difference so long as MS has the mindset it does. Nothing short of fining them $50 billion, putting execs behind bars, seizing personal assets, things so seemingly draconian that they will never be mentioned, much less carried out. Nothing else will get their attention and make them change. The choice given them has to be "cut the crap, or we cut off yer other nut", and said while the clippers remain in position for here on out, and the hand on the On button is that of their worst enemies, so they have no doubt that if they mess around they are done for. They are complete, unrepentent, shameless, honorless recidivists. So this suit by Real is cute and all, but it ain't gonna do much more than give folks something to read for a few months, and keep some attorneys and legal staff employed.
RealPlayer is a fucking POS and acts much like spyware.
Sorry, don't mean to troll, but it's the truth. They're losing business because their player is crap and they just want to point the blame.
I have made the offer before, and I will make the offer again, to you...
If you can create a sig, that is small enough that slashcode won't mutilate it, that has a better warning, I would be more than happy to replace my current sig with it.
It's not meant as a troll, of course, it's just that I hate javascript, and people either need to learn, or suffer... Muwawaahahaahaa....
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
This is an easy one. Root for the fight itself, and hope that it will be as bloody and terrible as possible and they will just destroy each other.
Incidentally, this is what the free world was hoping with Hitler & Stalin (before the war) when the two parallel nightmares seemed to be trying to stare each other down. Then, they suddenly allied with one another....
hmm...
My personal favorite: Network Protocols -> Microsoft -> TCP/IP. Ummm... no?
SIG: HUP
Ahh fuck, WinAmp is AOL? Time to uninstall.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
Yes - Mirabillis. I remember downloading ICQ from www.mirabillis.com in the old days, but the site doesn't seem to work anymore.
Well, you've got the suffering part down cold. Maybe a NSFW tag? Or NSFA: Not Safe For Anyone!
I see now that you are just a prophet... Isaiah once walked around naked for three years to make his point. The problem is that people remembered the nakedness more than the point.
Let's see... can we keep this on-topic? Because Javascript works in Outlook Express, you could send someone that page and create chaos on their desktop. Still not on topic... somehow self-multiplying pictures of people covered in crap can't quite be "news for nerds, stuff that matters."
Sorry mods... do your worst. My warning still stands, though. Don't click on the link in evilviper's sig. It's hazardous to your health.
A while back I was getting extremely frustrated with RealPlayer. All I wanted to do was watch some streaming video on the internet. You think this would be a pretty simple task. Not so when it's in RealPlayer format (.ram, .rm, .ra). RealPlayer has got to be the absolute most CRAPTACULAR piece of software ever made in the existence of man. It's worse than anything M$ has ever produced, hands down.
My problem was with the pop-ups, always asking me to register, sign over my soul and my first-born, etc etc. I plowed through this garbage, usually cancelling the registration process, and most of the time (if I was lucky) I would be able to watch the streaming video that I wanted to watch in the first place. However, one time RealPlayer just stopped working. No warning about not having registered, nothing. The RealPlayer window would come up, say it was connecting, but then just die. No streaming video. For no reason. (At first I thought it might be something wrong with the site providing the streaming video, but I tried some sites that I knew should work for sure, and the same thing happened.)
This was the last straw. I made a concerted effort to find an alternative product to RealPlayer that would still allow me to watch real media files. I struck gold when I encountered this message on usenet suggesting JetAudio: message.
I've used JetAudio since then. No annoying pop-ups, and fairly stable. I'm using version 5.1 basic. YMMV with whatever the latest release is, but I'm much happier with this product than I ever was with RealPlayer.
(BTW, I'm in no way affiliated with JetAudio.)
Didn't Real Networks decide to write an open source media player? Or at least one where bits of it were open source. Basically everything but the useful bit.
Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
That's why they're working on this:
https://www.helixcommunity.org/
What would any self-respecting Mac user need MSN for? I'll give Microsoft credit, for a while IE 5 was the best browser for the Mac. It was faster and rendered pages better than Netscape. Then came along Mozilla, then Camino/Chimera, then Safari. As far as Realplayer for Mac OSX, it's great. I use it to listen to the BBC because it is more reliable (in my experience) than WM, and lots of the content is RealPlayer only.
Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser worked for Microsoft from 1983 to 1993. Also, if I remember correctly, prior to their IPO, Real licensed their technology to Microsoft, giving Microsoft the ability to know all the ins and outs of RealPlayer. This would have been around 1997. If Real Networks can prove Microsoft used that knowledge against them, then they may have a case.
DMCA - Chilling free speech since 1998.
will just destroy each other.
that's only a possibility if they are anywhere near evenly matched, which they are not.
...probably won't work this time. The very claim would be laughable.
Hrm. this is really interesting. someone really needs to write a "secret history of linux's path to world domination"... which is definitely going to happen :-)
"This claim appears to revolve around how PC makers are restricted from including competing media players." This is such lie....fact is, I bought a PC that comes with MusicMatch pre-installed.....I'm sure I'm not the only one who's PC came with other media players....
Will the results be the same?
Yes. The stockholders should sue RealNetworks' Board of Directors for wasting money on such an obviously pointless act -- Microsoft was found guilty of acting illegally against Netscape and has received no meaningful punishment. Even if RealNetworks won their case (doubtful), it would serve no purpose. The Game is Over, fools. When MS moves in, move out or be bankrupted. This suit will just hasten the later, as RealNetworks has no chance in hell of outspending Microsoft and will thus be bled dry as Microsoft's lawyers laugh.
You are correct so far as there is no official release of RealOne for Linux. However, RealNetworks did release RealOne codecs (i.e., decoding libraries) for RealOne media, usable with the existent player (or for that matter, with MPlayer, plug plug!), which, really, are all you need.
rename it after you kill the process. I've done that ever since RealOne came out as a $0 player, and it doesn't even complain.
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\realsched.exe
Well, to put NSFW in there, I'd have to remove something else... You think I should remove "WARNING" and replace it with NSFA? Sounds like a bad trade-off. I can't just add it in there, since my sig is past the max allowable length already (don't ask).
Lunatic, prophet, it just depends on your point of view I suppose.
Just because one overshadows the other, does not mean that either is forgotten easily.
Well, the topic is "RealNetworks Sues Microsoft Over Antitriust Issues", so all you had to do was include some stab at how this is a result of Microsofts monopoly, and you'd be on-topic.
Or, you could just include a line about how much better Linux is in this regard, and even though off-topic, you'll get moderated up anyhow.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
>This is like a steel cage match between bin >Laden and Hitler. Who the hell do I root for?
Ask the Bushes.
Grandpa Prescott has his ties with one and daddy has his ties with the other.
They'll tell you.
WinAmp is AOL? Time to uninstall.
Well, yes and no. NullSoft released WinAmp before AOL bought them out, IIRC. And produced basically nothing while owned by AOL (other than the quickly-retracted P2P "Waste" fiasco). And now, I recently read, AOL no longer wants NullSoft (and as a result, we have the first worthwhile WinAmp update since AOL bought them, how amusing). So, you could probably argue that WinAmp doesn't actual come from AOL.
But, AOL still payed their bills for a few years. Owned or whored-to, they have some close connection.
Just before some of you real fanatics go berserk, I was a Real user so I know the nasty little things they do.
Having Microsoft Operating system to hold other competitors back is definitely....Microsoft. On the other hand, having Real installed and doing something CLOSE to hold back other competitors (through annoying users), isn't exactly right either.
I never saw netscape defaulting my browser everytime I run Internet Exploder.
Two wrongs don't make a right. I couldn't think of which side to stand on since I can't find the lesser of the two evils. Well, MS, obviously, but I would like to see Real fail.
Does it really seem realistic to expect Microsoft to not include a media player with Windows? Mac OS has come with Quicktime forever, and now includes iTunes. All of the Linux distros have come with a suite of multimedia applications for years. If anything, Windows Media Player shows that there IS competition out there, and that Microsoft is having to add new features to keep up. Tough shit for Real if that means having another competitor to help choke those last few death rattles out of Real's crap products.
Further, Windows Media Player is just an evolution and consolidation of the various CD/Wav/Video playing tools MS has been adding in including since the Windows 3.1 days, updated with newer codecs and a better UI. Windows is not cheap, and adding newer, better features is necessary for Microsoft to continue adding customers. Real never bitched back when the Windows multimedia stuff was a few different programs under "entertainment," and for them to say that Microsoft is violating antitrust laws now for providing something that consumers got used to a long time ago is just a load of crap.
Of course, I guess when you're running a company that's trying to make money selling that shitty RealOne player, you'll do anything to get the stock price up.
You have lost marketshare because no one wants your bloated bullshit! I would guess you have lost more marketshare to Winamp across all platforms than just WMP on Win32. Nobody wants your RealONE platform cause it is bloated, takes over your system, and provides the consumer with no real value! You want to talk about closed system, take a look at .RAM! Why have other vendors embraced WMA and not RAM? Because you failed it!
That's because you spelled it wrong. www.mirabilis.com redirects to web.icq.com
I hate having to install it every time I get a new job. I don't know if it has spyware, but it sure feels like it. There's so much crap that comes hanging on to it (I think the last time I loaded it, it put some AOL things on the computer)
How 'bout "This is why you should disable javascript! (tubgirl)" That would have the effect of warning off people who know, but still sucking in a few n00bs.
Anyway, I don't really care. I've seen this link put into fake URLs in several slashdot posts where it was obvious trickery. You aren't misleading anyone; but I would hate for my teenager to click on it unwittingly, or for my wife to walk by just as I did. Just the perils of the net, I suppose.
I'm using Mozilla under Linux, and sad to say, I still have javascript enabled. Mozilla does have the ability to restrict it from doing all kinds of nasty things, but your page slipped through that net. So here's the ontopic part: Linux rocks, but it can't save you from poop-covered psychopaths. Not even the Penguin is that strong. However, Linux gives you the tools you need to fight the raving armies of excrement fashionistas: total control over your browsing experience.
If all else fails... use links. Guaranteed shiat free. (unless you use links -g, but let's not go there.)
Bryan
Sincerely,
The RealPlayer(R) Team.
Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
Stop the Slashdot effect! Don't read the articles!
Jesus folks, Netscape was *crap* by the time IE started eating their lunch(remember blink tags? ). Why? Because they had to create revenue. Same reason that Real sucks donkey balls through a straw. Look over there is a shiny penny! When the next cool thing comes along and Microsoft starts knifing the baby again, you idiots will be reminiscing about how poor Real(which you'll remember as way better than WMP 12) got killed, but this product is crap and deserves to die.
WMP, and IE are better, faster and less intrusive because they're funded out of revenues from something else. The coders just have to focus on making the program better. They don't have to worry about a revenue model.
Of course WMP is better than Real. That's the fucking point you bozos. Microsoft doesn't have to play by the same rules because they are funding WMP through the Microsoft tax. Real One has to make money.
The only people that can beat Microsoft are us Open Source folks because we don't worry about a revenue model either.
I'll agree that a pox on both their houses is in order, but Microsoft is abusing their monopoly in exactly the same way that they did to cut off Netscape's air supply and knife the baby.
~ a low user id is no indication I have a clue what I'm talking about.
In my opinion the argument given is bogus. For some oddball reason german state TV news channel declared that the Real Player is the "most popular".
I could not help but snicker at that, honestly. Having never - ever - met anyone who does appreciate their player software before in my life, I cannot help but guess that the "masses" that make this player popular (if at all) are the masses of online TV and radio channels that use it for streaming. As a streaming format, the real format is actually pretty good, if not the best suited - at least when it comes to audio PLUS video. But even that may be wrong.
I'll get to the point now.
Realplayer uses the Realformat.
MS Media Player does not know this format.
Is the codec question excluded? The WMP does not play Real format - at all! You _need_ the Real player in order to play it.
How can the WMP endanger or drive out the Real player if it does not even play the one big strong format that this player does focus on? The single purpose for most people to ever use Real Player One is that single format! There is no competition between the two players - they don't even touch each other.
Leopard cub
English isn't my native language, and I've started using the "could" variant after hearing and seeing the native speakers use it. I thought it was some kind of "americanism". Thanks for correcting!
EULAs; Contracts; Restrictions; DMCA; DRM; Spyware
Sneaky WMP agreements; unfixed IE insecurities; Outlook worms; No December Patches
IE Antitrust; European Commission; SCO; Now this.
All of the above have been helped along by the idea of proprietary software. Ever since I came home for Christmas to a house full of Windows machines, I have been inundated with examples of how cumbersome, expensive, restrictive, frustrating and downright ANNOYING proprietary software can be. Why do people put up with this?!
Real's suit against Microsoft is among these examples. MS wants a closed, system where All The World is a Windows PC, and RealNetworks needs to make money with its proprietary media player. And because megacorporations are often without conscience, Real has no recourse but to sue these monopolists!
The longer I watch the Industry, the more proprietary software strikes me as the runaway train fueled by the residual billionaires of IT's infancy. The computer industry has been riddled all its life with IP infringement lawsuits. Open-Source can serve as the step to maturity that gets us out of that ludicrous, litigous business model.
yeh so i think stalin is microsoft and real player is hitler (cocky bastard)
I find it funny that Real (and many other companies) produce their best software on Windows, then act surprised that MS beat them. By doing their best work on MS, they encourage users to go to Windows. MS does not care if they own that segment just so long as the users stay there. Had Real (and Corel, Novel, AOL, SAP, J.D.Edwards, DB2, Oracle, etc) been looking ahead for the next several years, they would moved their best work to Linux (or possibly apple).
Look for more loses and lawsuits in the future. SAP, JDEdwards, and PeopleSoft will soon be complaining that MS is being unfair and that they cannot compete since MS is bundling. SAP has been porting to Linux, but doing a half-ass job. People soft just started at it, and J.D.Edwards just gave up the ghost before the major fall.
Aol, well, they will be gone in the course of the next 5 years. If AOL wishes to survive, they would push users to Linux with free disks (knoppix style), and try to get Linux distros to offer their connection. They just do not appear to be able to look past 3 years.
Another one that is funny is IBM and Intuit. My father has tried to move to Linux several times. He is hooked on Lotus Organizer and Quicken. He tried Evolution and the k* series, but it does not fit the bill. The same of GNU cash. So he is back to MS. However, now he is starting to explore Outlook and MS money. If he switches to either, he will stay with Windows for good. If Lotus/Intuit had a brain 2 years ago, they would have ported, but.... My prediction is that Lotus organizer will disappear in about 3 years and quicken will lose to GnuCash and Money on the Windows platform in under 5.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Anyone else note that the suit was filed in San Jose, rather than in Seattle? This is kind of interesting if you also take note that all of a sudden Real is advertising a bunch of new job openings in San Francisco. Could it be that it's going to turn out that Rhapsody's managed to acquire Real with Real's money, the way McDonnell Douglas did with Boeing?
When Slashdot would be rooting for Microsoft to use
legal muscle to annihilate a smaller technology company?
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Was that a pig??!
Well you could thank Microsoft for killing Netscape ;-)
Lets face it, would we have Mozilla and countless free browsers if Microsoft hadn't changed the value perception?
Right on!
So, Real has done a number of things that make for a crappier player:
:)
- Tons o' ads
- Loads o' e-mail spam
- Loads o' player spam from the messenger
- Bloated player that sucks resources
- etc.
At the end of the day, the reason they inflicted this amount of pain on their customers is because they weren't able to make enough money to stay alive from selling servers, their initial plan. The main reason they couldn't stay alive selling servers is that M$ was pricing them out by giving servers away.
Now, I can't say that if M$ wasn't screwing Real that they wouldn't have been greedy. They may well have decided to be evil, make a crappier product, and go for all the short-term money they can get. But, given that Real's done a number of good things, such as charitable giving, open sourcing stuff, helping linux into the server market with their streaming server, etc., that if they weren't doing everything they could to survive with M$ dumping on them, they may well have been able to make a faster, unbloated, ad / spyware free player.
So, I'd argue that it is M$ making a good company choose evil because doing good doesn't pay the bills.
Or perhaps I'm just a Real apologist... hard to tell.
Ok, so why are we worried about WMP? Every user needs a media player. Real can go out of business.
And browsers, everybody needs a browser, so who cares. Netscape can go out of business.
And CD burning software, everybody needs that these days. Ahead can go out of business.
Office software? Everybody needs that, so Corel and Lotus can go out of business.
Microsoft should simply bundle MS Office with Windows and save us another purchase. Oh, most OEM's do that already?
Games? Heck, Microsoft makes those too! Why do we need other companies for games and consoles?
Movies? Everybody watches movies, Microsoft should develop a way to watch hi-res digital movies! Oh, they did?
Microsoft has been looking for a CPU design team too...
At what point is the monopoly so strong that you people quit whining that it is "just application X and everyone needs it"?
If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. - James Madison
A monopoly can not use its dominance to pedal more of his products.
How can thick heads like yours grasp that idea? What other evidence of top of software compression (Stacker), browser (Netscape), Java (broken JAva VM machine) and now this do you need before you stop tht most stupidiest of excuses: the market hath spoken. Well, yes, chose head or tail, my secret is that the coin I am throwing has only two heads. That is your choice.
MS should and is not free to put whatever they want in the OS because they are hurting other companies given their monopolistic position.
What is fair game in a competitive market is forbidden in a monopolistic one.
What do MS needs to do for you to grasp that most basic of concepts? Start bundling games that can compete with the likes of EA and threteaning the PC manufacturers if they include games from other comapnies in the bundles they normally give first buyers? Database software? Proper graphics software (bye bye Photoshop?). Who is next on their radar.
How far does MS has to go before people that can't recognize a monopoly if it hits them in the face stop defending those practices as fair market competition?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Why anyone would expect a company founded by a Microsoft alumnus to care about the quality and useability of the software they sell puzzles me.
One thing is cost, the other is price, and that is the full blody point for goodnes sake.
Cost is what you have to spend to make a product available to the public, nothing produced by human labour is costless. So in tha sense yes, you are managing to grasp part of the concept. IE costed MS a certain amount of money to produce it.
The product MSIE was free (as in beer), you as an user were not charged at all for using the product. MSIE was a product clearly diferentiated from the operating systems also produced by MS. MS bundled this later on with their OS to the point that one can't work without the other now. This was not a matter of clean design with engineering goals in mind. Tying your OS to a a task that clearly belong to user space is frankly daft from an engineering point of view. The best probe of this is a browser running in any UNIX or UNIXlike platform: browser dies, who cares, rest of system is fine, in Windows now browser dies, you may need to reboot because your UI may go dead as well denying you any control of the machine in question.
Has MSIE been included from the start with Windows you may have a point, but MS did not see the Internet coming and it was just by sheer business shrewdness tha they managed to jump into the rollercoaster, but they clearly missed the trend.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
You sit back and watch, why should you root for anybody at all?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I have had good luck with a program called RealAlternative, which sounds about like JetAudio. I put it on one of my web sites on which I have a lot of RealAudio files (http://www.reformed-theology.org/realaudio/). This month alone RealAudio was downloaded 1177 times and last month it was downloaded 3211 times (I'm afraid to know about the legality of both the program and my ability to offer it for download). Basically RealAlternative is what the RealOne basic player should have been, period.
/. in that I despise RealAudio, but I started converting some of my more interesting audio tapes to the Real format because when I started doing it, it was basically the only game in town. Nobody had heard of MP3s back then or wma files, and you could compress an hour of audio down to an AM-radio-quality 5 MB
I'm with the rest of
file. If I had it to do over again, hell yeah, I would do it differently.
Transporter
I'm going to be wearing a hockey mask when I go off on everyone...
Without getting into a db religion war, I fail to see how comparing mysql to sql server is "ludicrous." Both are enterprise level databases that have been used to some degree of success for large projects. I will confess that VS.NET is a *lot* better than Boa as an IDE. Not for any of the reasons you listed, however. VS.NET is better because the graphical designer is a bit more mature and less buggy. That's really about all I can think of. Other than that, the debugging tools, editor features, etc. can all be found in Boa. VS.NET does not *really* support multiple languages. It supports the same language with minor syntax differences. The feature set of VB.NET and C#, as well as the entire runtime and underlying library are identical. VB.NET is closer to C# than it is to VB. And C# is closer to VB.NET than it is to C++ or Java. No matter how much MS tries to say otherwise, there's no difference between choosing VB.NET or C#. Since there's no difference...it's arbitrary and there's no real need to have both languages. The "VB programmers will have an easier time adapting to VB.NET line doesn't convince me. It's BS. VB.NET requires so much new learning from VB that the curve is about the same as going to C#. None of your code is going to port anyway. Methinks Bill Gates is still proud of that first BASIC compiler that he "wrote." and just doesn't have it in his heart to let BASIC die the way it should have a long time ago. I think that the multiple language thing would have been a lot more impressive if MS didn't have to invent the supported languages when they invented the multiple language support.
Lets all get together and sue MS for websites that dont give us any choice but to use WMP as the player of any content on the site due to DRM restrictions thus locking out MAC and Linux users.
Despite the crappiness of RealPlayer and their mess of websites that are RP only they do the same crap but at least try to support underdog OS's along with MS Os's.
And I agree with RN about WMP being installed by default on Windows but not about OEM's being forced to install it.. IIRC HP uses MusicMatch Jukebox on system installs.
This is probably a dumb question, but what actually happened in the netscape/microsoft anti-trust case. I remeber once Microsoft was being split up and then bush deciding not to (after they coincidently donated to his electoral fund) but surely something must have happened to prevent Microsoft doing the exact thing they are being accused of doing now.
Yes I hate them all. I want a movie player. Not a music player. Not a catalog. Not an ad machine. I just want to play the goddamn movie. Is that so difficult?
I can't even decide wich one is worse. they are all just so evil.
WMP forces you to use windows though so far little noise seems to be made about mplayers capabilties on linux with windows dlls.
Realplay gets so much in the way of playing I just don't do rm anymore.
Quicktime just keeps bugging you to buy the full version. Talk about wanting to have their cake and eat it to (make money at client side or server side not both). The free ride is over eh Steve Jobs? That why you based your overpriced OS on free software? Creep. Write your own instead of sponging of the gnu, linux and bsd.
Argh. So evil company fighting evil company in evil courtroom. Where is a terrorist when you need them.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Strange, how times can change. And yet, if you asked me my general opinion of AOL, I'd still say they suck - But I suppose I have to thank them for sponsoring two pretty nice programs.
Scary thought - Perhaps some day, we'll have to thank (gasp!) Microsoft for creating something nice for us? Eeeek. Time to go hide under the bed for a while.
To stay on a Hitlerian theme, why do you think it is called the "People's Car". Yup, that delightful vehicle so beloved by hippies and yuppies was heavily promoted by The Man himself as an example of the coming good times.
Don't you just hate it when people don't get credit for the _good_ things they do?
I copied a post from this thread and emailed it to Real.
The post was
"We still remember when you were selling our personal data. So even if
we could get your player preinstalled in our computers, it would be the
first to be removed.
Your player is complete bloatware with one of the most misleading
installs ever. thanks for the headache you rat bastards."
Real replied.
Hello!
Thank you for contacting RealNetworks Technical Support.
I apologize for the difficulty you have experienced.
As we indicate in our Privacy Policy
, RealNetworks
will never sell, rent or disclose your personal information (including
e-mail) to outside parties without your consent, unless we are compelled
by law or court order to do so.
If you have any further questions after reading our privacy statement,
please contact us at privacy@real.com.
The information provided in the RealNetworks Knowledge Base is provided
'as is' without warranty of any kind. RealNetworks disclaims all
warranties, either expressed or implied, including the warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall RealNetworks or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or
special damages, even if RealNetworks or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the
exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.
Please feel free to contact us if you need further assistance.
Regards,
Ameet
B2K Corp.
RealNetworks Authorized Support Provider
I'll admit, it's nice to have third party in this war, but I pretty much have to have a gun to my head to install Realcrap on any machine. Please people, quit making content for them. It's like spam and zits, if we quit picking it - it will go away.
w00t! for spyware! My life would be better if Big Brother is a part of it.
- Startup control panel
The first program lets you remove stuff from the many places in the registry where crap hides to start on bootup, while the second keeps crap from getting there without your explicit consent.- Startup monitor
Since I have those two, life is good and (almost) malware-free.
You're not old until regret takes the place of your dreams.
maybe mac users have been spoiled all these years...i'm not sure how big a diffference there is between platform versions, but QT is soooooo much better quality video than windoze media...i dumped RP years ago, with no intention of going back...can someone out there tell us what the difference in quality between the two platforms is?
RealNetworks is suing for $1B. But at its current stock price, you could buy the whole company for $800M. Microsoft should just buy RealNetworks, and then fire Rob Glaser.
I knew Rob when he worked at Microsoft. I found him to be ultra-competitive, but not very nice, and not above cheating to get what he wants (even playing racquet ball against him, he'd love to try to psych you out by stalling and whining if you were beating him).
Even if you assume Microsoft has some monopoly power, I believe they've generally used it to the benefit of consumers. Rob Glaser would be the evil tyrant in comparison to Microsoft's benevolent dictatorship.
- an ex-MSFTee.
Here's my compromise for you: I'm heeding your warning about not clicking on the link, but not about not asking about your sig: How did you get a sig that's past the max allowable length?
I'd rather be lucky than good.
Why should I trust software from an author who offers to protect my computer for free, when he's so rabidly against opening his source code?
See the end of his FAQ
So how do we know else it really does?
I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. --Albert Einstein
I must be, because I have had none of the problems all of you are screaming about. I just installed the free version (which was found in three clicks, not twenty -- RTFW) and instead of choosing "typical install" I customized it to not install anything I didn't want. End result is a player that plays the .RM files I want it to when I click on them, nothing more. Message center can be disabled in the program's options, not by going through registry madness.
I do not work for Real, but I am a fan of the technology. Honestly, take a 320x240@30fps clip and compress it to ISDN bitrates using every single major package, including MPEG-4 and DivX, and then tell me Real doesn't kick ass. Because for low-bitrate video, it really does kick major ass.
It's ludicrous because you're mistaking MySQL for an enterprise-level database system. It's not. It's a great, fast indexing and storage system for simple data sets, and it's been shoehorned into other roles where a better database would be more appropriate simply through propaganda (if I say "open source database", you immediately say "MySQL", and not the more featureful and robust "PostgreSQL") and ignorance. How many times have you seen the infamous MySQL errors from Slashdotted web pages? The bandwidth is obviously still there, else the pages would be giving errors about having exceeded their maximum limit or some such, but MySQL has taken a crap because it couldn't handle the load. Now, how many times have you seen a similar problem with Postgres-, Oracle-, SQL Server-backed sites? Why do you think Slashdot has had so many problems? Most of Slashdot's technical problems stem from their MySQL backend, and its inability to scale to a complex data set or large number of concurrent users (it's also the reason why most of Slashdot's pages are static pages, rather than rendered on the fly, because MySQL can't keep up with the load).
Would you trust your money to a financial institution that uses MySQL? I wouldn't, and not for any silly reason like because MySQL is open source. MySQL has problems, and the MySQL developers are arrogant enough to say that a lot of MySQL problems and deficiencies are "by design" and would slow down the system if they were implemented properly (maybe true, but if that's the case then MySQL is poorly written to begin with). MySQL is great for a hobbiest database, or for getting your feet wet with SQL (though you'd want to move to a more standards-compliant RDBMS before you get too deep, else you'll be learning MySQL-specific tricks and hacks that you'll then try to apply to other RDBMSs that don't need them), but it is not enterprise-level, regardless of what the open source zealots will tell you.
That's not exactly true, as Visual Studio .NET still obviously supports C++ (Managed and standard). However, you're confusing VS.NET the development environment with .NET the platform. VS has had hooks for a long time to be able to add support for new languages. As well, you're confusing the MS Development Environment program (the IDE you're calling "Visual Studio .NET") with Visual Studio .NET the suite of tools. As I mentioned, VS.NET Architect has a lot of other tools and capabilities than VS.NET Professional (the de-facto "just the IDE, maybe a few extra things like Crystal Reports" suite, if you can't get the more barebones Academic version). Read through those pages. Architect does everything Professional does and more (yes, they're full of marketing speak, but read between the lines). Professional may be a more accurate comparison with BOA, but not Architect.
what about gxine ? plays all the real slayer & media slayer files just fine ..
iF yOu WAnT to C YOUr iP agaIn gAThEr tWO MilLIon dOLLArS IN Non - cONsEcuTivE TweNtY's AnD AWaiT FuRThER iNstrUctIoN
I hate Real as much as the next guy, but you're missing the point here.
Real's complaining that "Microsoft has used its monopoly power to restrict how PC makers install competing media players". They argue that PC makers should be allowed to (at least) ship Real preinstalled *in addition* to WMP.
Real has a point there.
I will grant you that VS.NET does come with a lot of tools beyond it's IDE. These tools are generally either something that an OSS developer wouldn't need, or already has (and with a much more established and better reputation.) But your point is correct. Boa itself is not a good comparison against Microsoft's "architect" toybox. I guess I take a lot of my other development tools on linux for granted since I don't have to pay through the nose for them or keep up my "subscription." Most of them came with my distro and are just there when I need them.
As for MySQL being enterprise:
You sir, are terribly misinformed. Go here
http://www.mysql.com
Read.
There are quite a few tiny little enterprises out there using MySQL, all giving it glowing reports:
NASA, Avery Dennison, Sabre Holdings, The U.S. Census Bureau, etc.
It's quite a bit more than the toy you seem to believe it to be.
There are some features found in other RDBMS products that you won't find in mysql. This is the way it is between any 2 db servers. IE: There are a lot of features in mysql that you won't find in SQL Server. Personally, I haven't found mysql lacking. Apparently, neither has NASA or the US Census Bureau.
The feautres ppl pick on mysql for not implementing:
1) Views
coming next version
2) Stored Procedures
Also...next version. Personally, I don't like sprocs anyway. In the MS environment, they are especially ridiculous. Why use a crippled language (TransactSQL) to write your data access when you could do it on a seperate teir with a full featured language at your hands. The performance gained by precompiled sprocs generally isn't worth it. Sprocs are too often a band-aid for a poorly designed database.
3) Foreign key enforcement
Already there. (Don't know why people always throw this one up.)
Your link to mysql's "problems" was funny. So...much...spin. The page was really just a page about features that you will find in SQL Server that you won't find in mysql. These are not bugs. These are not showstoppers. These are generally not even inconveniences.
Would I trust a financial institution that chose mysql (as much as any other db?) Answer: A lot sooner than I'd trust one that ran SQL Server. Even putting performance aside...I trust the OSS culture a lot more than the MS Lemming culture. That aside...thing that you seem to not understand here is that using a *relational* database in that industry is pretty damn rare.
The factor that you seem to ignore when contemplating what slashdot's "mysql" errors are caused by, is the middle tier. Read the actual error messages before shooting your mouth off.
What kind of work are you and they doing? Is it truly "enterprise level"? I'll grant that MySQL can be useful for web sites, especially when they deal with a simple data set and mostly read operations. I would not write an enterprise level billing system, financial system, etc based on MySQL.
Not good enough. I don't want to wait until "next version". I want it now. SQL Server has had views for years and years, as have Oracle, Postgres, DB2, etc.
Again, same answer. I don't want to wait. But more importantly, your answer explains why you don't miss stored procedures -- you don't have any understanding at all about why they're useful. The ability to compile a stored procedure is a very small benefit, and is only really touted by people that don't understand the other benefits.
if you're running his program, you're already running an entire closed source OS. You're also protecting against greedy closed source programs that you're installing that are registering themselves at startup without your permission (why else would you use the product?). Mike Lin isn't the one I'd be worried about here.
Your credit card information wants to be free.
I must say...it's a bit disappointing that you persist in excluding it from your list of "real" RDBMS systems even after being confronted with the *fact* that mysql is being used in some very large, important, and time sensitive environments. Clearly, you stopped actually reading my responses and acknowledging facts put in front of you a long time ago. I'm sorry that you think that this is an OSS thing. I'm sorry that you didn't bother to see the facts that were put in front of you. maybe you missed out. You seem to prefer a fat database that will protect you from yourself and do all the work for you while you write a little code to connect it all. I guess at the very least it gives you someone to point fingers at when the problems come. I prefer a light-weight high performance database that will give me precise and deliberate control over the data that I am working with. I don't need the database protecting itself from me. Sooooo back to the original point. MS offers a lot of tools. I don't need any of them since I already have alternatives that I prefer. since you seem to have strayed way off topic and turned this into retorting rather than discussing...i am done with this thread.
Just kind of how Apple killed everyone trying to make mp3 software for the Mac too..
I can take a Geo Metro to the racetrack, but that won't make it a racecar. Just because MySQL is being used for large, important, and time sensitive environments doesn't mean that it was the best choice for those environments, just that whoever designed them chose to use MySQL.
No, I prefer a relational database engine that actually does what a relational database engine is supposed to do. There are now decades of research and development into RDBMS systems, and I'm not naive or proud enough to think that I can do it better than people who have made database engine design their life's work. Now, you could say that also includes MySQL developers, but I have to disagree. If MySQL didn't call itself a RDBMS, I'd be right there with you. But they do, and it's not, for the simple reason that an RDBMS manages and enforces relationships. That happens on the database, where it's most efficent to do so, not in my middle-tier code.
It sounds like you don't need a relational database, but basically an indexed filesystem. That's fine, MySQL works great for that. What you call "protecting itself from me" is what I call "maintaining data integrity regardless of what may happen".
Yep, it's all my fault, the Microsoft-loving weenie that won't listen to why a half-implemented RDBMS is better for mission critical applications than a full featured, properly designed RDBMS. Who cares that it's half-implemented? I can implement what it doesn't in my middle-tier code!
Let me give a personal example: I used to work in the most un-Microsoft-friendly place on the planet. I refer, of course, to Sun Microsystems. Now, a lot of our informal workflow system consisted of passing around HTML files, much as more Microsoft-friendly shops pass around Word and Excel files. Which makes a reliable web browser kind of important. Unfortunately, what we had was Netscape 4.7 for Solaris, the shortcomings of which boggle the mind. Constant crashes, sloppy X palette usage, so other apps couldn't display correct. Locking up when you tried to display a complicated table. It didn't even put headers and footers on printouts! So I risked breaking the famous Sun "Big Rules" and installed Internet Explorer for Solaris. Big improvement.
MPlayer devs get ulcers whenever precompiled packages are mentioned, and for good reason: Not only do such packages make it impossible for the user to take advantage of compile-time optimisations to the user's system, they also are almost invariably crippled due to the patent encumbrances of various encoding formats.
You don't mention what specific codec the files use (how boringly typical!), but I'll guess you mean WMV9. I've found that the WMV9 decoder that MPlayer uses by default, 'wmv9dmo', is severely shaky on my particular system (don't blame the MPlayer devs, blame MS for screwing around with the encoding format yet again; can't they just accept that H.26[34] has them whipped?). You may have better luck with the alternate WMV9 decoder by specifying '-vc wmvdmo' in the command line for those particular files. If this helps, you can make the change permanent by finding codecs.conf and changing wmv9dmo's status line to 'status crashing' and (if necessary) wmvdmo's status line to 'status working'.
If it doesn't help, then get a CVS snapshot and the necessary codecs, compile, give it a spin, and if you still have trouble then for God's sake please please please please PLEASE RTFM. They will roast you alive if you submit a report to them that's as useless as the one you posted here.
P.S.: If anyone's about to reply saying "You see, that's the way (MPlayer|Linux|Free Software|etc.) always is, you can't just click on the icon, you have to actually use your brain, whine whine!", will they please go stand in traffic? The gene pool has no need of such willful ignorance.