Legal Issues?

[Julie Smith]

Hi,
I was wondering what legal issues there are when making a C# based music
player using the WMP11 API.

Are there any? For some reason I wouldn't think MS would just let anyone go
out and use their tech to profit from it.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

but also. why would u want to build a new player from an existing player's
api? what advantages would there be in that?

 

[Michael A. Covington]

I don't think there are any, because the user must have Windows Media Player
(licensed and installed) and you are merely writing a program that actuates
it.

 

[Michael A. Covington]

but also. why would u want to build a new player from an existing player's
api? what advantages would there be in that?

Playing media for special purposes, maybe. Psychological tests administered
by computer are one example.

 

[Guest]

perhaps a plugin would be more appropriate?

which Im sure has minimal licencing issues to worry about.

 

[Jani Järvinen [MVP]]

Hi Julie,

I doubt there are any legal issues hindering your media player programming,
but then again I'm not a laywer.

I suggest that you check the "whole path" of the end-user license agreements
before continuing, though. That would mean basically: WMP11 EULA -> Visual
Studio 2005 EULA -> .NET Framework EULA -> Windows EULA. For example, the
Visual Studio EULA is rather complex, but as far as I'm aware, there isn't
anything there saying you couldn't do what you are doing.

Hope this helps.

--
Regards,

Mr. Jani Järvinen
C# MVP
Helsinki, Finland
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.saunalahti.fi/janij/

 

[Julie Smith]

What about writing commercial software with Visual Studio Express? Is that
allowed? I use VS.net pro, but its something I've always wondered.

 

[Alvin Bruney [MVP]]

The CLR doesn't care or doesn't even know what process created the assembly.
Compilers/ide's are there for the expressed purpose of creating assemblies.
That said, I dropped out of law school so you should consult the EULA as the
authoratative source.

--
Regards,
Alvin Bruney
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