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July 19, 2007
Real problem
Real problem: If people tell you "Hey, your Flex app is broken, worked fine for me last week" then try asking them "Have you installed the beta RealPlayer recently?" According to various public reports, the HTML-rewriting which Real uses to rip video streams to the local drive replaces your SWF with their SWF, with reduced functionality. Result: Current sites can break, if people install that beta utility. The issue is under investigation here and I expect further documentation soon... in the meantime, Kevin Towes' whitepaper on video protection includes screenshots of the Real interface. Info on ethics is available directly from Rob Glaser, in an interview with Rafat Ali.
Posted by JohnDowdell at July 19, 2007 12:27 PM
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Comments
Wow!! That is a bad issue/situation for sure. I’m not sure how they manage to mess up the cached swf though (if that’s what I understand is happening?).
jason
Posted by: Jason Hawryluk at July 19, 2007 01:41 PM
Real problem... aha, right, I see what you did there ;-)
Posted by: Stefan Richter at July 19, 2007 02:07 PM
So anyway to prevent this by changing up your HTML?
I noticed if i went directly to my SWF then the app worked again (and the Real beta menu was still there!)
Posted by: jlacivita at July 20, 2007 08:03 AM
I don't know; haven't installed Real's beta yet myself. Others at Adobe are researching the issue and attempting to persuade Real to play without adverse effects to existing web content.
Right now it looks like installing the beta does make changes to the world's current webpages, some changes of which prevent these pages' content from working. I don't have the full story yet on prevention, sorry.
Posted by: John Dowdell at July 20, 2007 09:24 AM
This is Matt Spragins, Director of Product for the RealPlayer.
We have received feedback about this issue from several users and have been working to resolve it.
You can see our response on our RealPlayer blog at http://www.realplayer.com/blog
Posted by: Matt Spragins at July 25, 2007 05:03 PM
Keith Peters surveys the scene, particularly the testing from Jay Charles, and neither is yet satisfied. (And, from Keith's comment to Jay, neither is Sony.)
What would help? Clear public documentation from Real on exactly what they're doing, to change the viewing of the world's existing web content like that. Transparency would clear needless confusion and concern.
jd/adobe
Posted by: John Dowdell at July 31, 2007 04:08 PM
Maybe there should be a public warning label on Real Player: "Caution, the Webmaster General has determined that use of this product can break the Internet." :)
Posted by: Keith Peters at July 31, 2007 05:34 PM
I installed beta 11 after alot of time involved and beta 11 played everything but what I wanted played like .ram and .ra files which is the only thing I use realplayer for. I looked for a plugin but could not find anything so I uninstalled it and I found a copy of version 10 I had burned to a disk and it worked. After 4 hrs of time wasted perhaps you can understand WHY I HATE REALPLAYER AND WOULD NOT USE IT UNLESS I HAVE TO PLAY REALPLAYER FILES!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Alfred Merkle at November 6, 2007 06:48 PM
Regarding Matt Spragins earlier comment: A response was posted on RealPlayer blog site (http://rws-blog.rhapsody.com/realplayer/2007/07/realplayer-beta.html) but I still believe Real should be publishing more comprehensive documentation around how this functionality is working in the context of a web page.
As a content provider, I particularly need to understand how this technology could affect the end-user experience. The idea of a 'container' SWF and some incompatibilities with Flex are still a real concern.
Posted by: Jodie O'Rourke at December 31, 2007 02:13 AM