Yet this time, instead of displaying the usual song information, the popular CD-burning software made by Roxio delivered a different message. Roxio products were no longer supported by Gracenote's CD information service, which housed the database Smith had been using to match song and album titles with a disc placed into his computer--a collection entered in large part by individuals on the Net.
"I blame Gracenote," Smith said, for "taking what is essentially an open-source database and closing it off." Because so many people voluntarily helped build the database, being locked out is a slap in the face, said the software engineer who asked that his real name not be used.
The data blackout is the result of a copyright battle between the two companies that may have far-reaching consequences. Already, thousands of customers have been cut off from the largest such online database, a collection of 885,000 records called CDDB. While the legal dispute centres on whether Roxio can use online databases created by people on the Internet, many people are concerned that CDDB--maintained for the last three years by Gracenote but built from individuals' submissions--can be owned.
The issue is central to a lawsuit that could affect a variety of communities throughout the Internet, from so-called open-source programming projects to comments archived on online bulletin boards.
If Roxio wins, open-source competitors to Gracenote will be legally free to build databases that can't be co-opted by others. If Gracenote wins, other databases relying on individuals' submissions could be considered the property of whatever company collects and formats the data.
More immediately, the case will determine the fate of two alternative CD databases--Freedb.org and MusicBrainz.org--that were created after several programmers on the Internet realised that Gracenote had essentially fenced off the original CDDB by changing the terms of the licenses.
Like Gracenote's CDDB, the two open-source services allow people to download information from the Internet on just about any audio CD they insert into their computer. While MusicBrainz.org uses a different system that is incompatible with the Gracenote database, Freedb.org uses the same kernel of software and data--information that Gracenote claims it owns.
Roxio originally intended in late April to shift its software from Gracenote's CDDB to the database run by Freedb.org. However, the suit aims to prevent that. And, if Roxio can't use a competitor to Gracenote, the case will also prevent any of the other 1,800 commercial licensees and 2,200 free licensees from jumping to competitors.
The outcome of the suit will determine whether CD-listing services owned by the public can exist.
"Obviously, we would like more companies to integrate their software with MusicBrainz," said Robert Kaye, the lead programmer behind MusicBrainz.org, which recently changed its name from CDIndex.org. "A lot of companies are looking at us, but they hesitate because they are afraid of being sued."
