USB Implementers Forum Won't Play Nice With Open Hardware 273
DeathToBill writes "Hack A Day reports on the attempts of open hardware hackers to obtain a vendor and product ID for their devices to be able to sell them as USB compliant: 'A not for profit foundation [in this case Arachnid Labs] could buy a VID, give PIDs away to foundation members making open source hardware, and we would all live in a magical world of homebrew devices that are certified as USB compliant.' The USB Implementers Forum, which controls the sale of PIDs, has lawyered up, responding to the effort with a cease and desist notice, requiring Arachnid Labs to stop 'raising funds to purchase a unique USB VID' and 'delete all references to the USB-IF, VIDs and PIDs for transfer, resale or sublicense from your website and other marketing materials.' A slight over-reaction? Or dark conspiracy against open hardware? You decide!"
She said her PID was clean (Score:2, Funny)
But now I have a VID :(
Re:Pardon my ignorance but... (Score:5, Funny)
your USB port is certified as not unleashing terrifying cyber-demons to everything that connects to it.
But what if that is it's advertized and intended purpose? IS there something saying i can't sell a device that unleashes terrifying cyber-demons?
I see this as just plain discrimination. Won't someone think of all the cyber-demons sitting around looking for work? Please people let them work, in turn they will create more work for SysAdmins and therefor will be a job creator, please people think of the jobs!
Re:Or missing the point entirely. (Score:4, Funny)
Getting USB certification is like getting a pharmacist's license from a drug dealer. Perhaps it's improved somewhat (been a few years since I worked w/ it), but lots of stuff out there is/was certified but horribly non-compliant. Depending on what you were using it for, the biggest problem by far was getting your stuff to play nice w/ other stuff, even though your stuff is compliant, and the other "certified" stuff isn't. We used to have an entire lab setup just for testing that.
Re:Pardon my ignorance but... (Score:5, Funny)
History is littered with "technically superior" crap that nobody adopted.
Mfh... n-- You take that back! My Dreamcast is Not CRAP! I'll show you crap!
...
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to change my HDDVDBVDs.
Re:Pardon my ignorance but... (Score:5, Funny)
Do you know what de facto means?
Well, I know what everybody says it means, but not necessarily what the rules say it's supposed to mean.
Re:Pardon my ignorance but... (Score:0, Funny)
So in other words you don't know shit.
Re:Pardon my ignorance but... (Score:5, Funny)
Woosh, sir. Woosh.
Re:CAN THE VHS/BETA MYTH FUCKING DIE NOW (Score:2, Funny)
It is only because you didn't use Monster Cables on the Betamax...
Re:CAN THE VHS/BETA MYTH FUCKING DIE NOW (Score:5, Funny)
Stop repeating this total bullshit fanboy crap.
Yeah I agree with you, it's time VHS/Betamax fanboys stop this nonsense.
It's 21th century now, there are more important wars to be discussed, ex. : Emacs vs. Vim :-)