BUMP
I saw this article just today on how BitTorrent is closing the source code for its client:
http://www.slyck.com/story1566_BitTo..._Source_Issues
I doubt this matters much in the greater scheme of things. The article makes mention of the BT protocol, but at this point I can't imagine that BT, Inc., could make any profound changes to the protocol and somehow close it. Still I wish BT had an official RFC behind it so the protocol details would remain open, and any changes would have to go through a public process. I'm pretty fuzzy on how much, if any, of the protocol "belongs" to Bram Cohen, and how much is in the public domain. The article does say that developers need to register and obtain an SDK to keep current with any protocol changes: The author (in full Pollyanna mode it seems) writes:
"While the BitTorrent client and the latest protocol may not be published, therefore technically closed source, the protocol is still open. The details of the protocol extensions, including all the latest revisions, are still available to whoever [sic] wants them, providing they obtain the easily obtainable SDK license. BitTorrent's recent move isn't going to make everyone happy, but those wishing to help develop the BitTorrent community probably won't notice much of a difference."
The argument BT, Inc.., makes that they need to close the source to protect against rogue packagers who might include spyware seems like BS to me. How come Mozilla doesn't have this problem?