Open Media Now announces its opening with the launch of Gnash's first Beta release.

Open Media Now Foundation announces its opening with the launch of Gnash's first Beta release.

Open Media Now is a new non-profit foundation dedicated to the development, the support and the empowerment of an open media infrastructure. OMNow supports the Gnash and Cygnal free software projects and is actively seeking corporate members who wish to support the development of these free software projects.

“Our aim is to engage in a variety of projects that improve upon both the functionality of, and access to, open media solutions.” says Executive Director Lauren Riggin.

Rob Savoye, Founder and CTO, summarizes the goals of OpenMediaNow. “We are promoting an infrastructure that enables the creation, the streaming, and the viewing of digital content, using free software in a legally conforming way.”

The ongoing development of Gnash is just one way OMNow promotes the free viewing of digital content. This week, Gnash celebrates its first Beta release, 0.8.2 (www.gnashdev.org). Gnash is a GPLv3 SWF movie player, browser plug-in and GUI for computer, gaming, embedded and consumer electronic devices. Gnash supports many SWF v7 features and ActionScript 2 classes, with growing support for SWF v8 and v9. Originally created as a user interface for a digital stereo set-top box, the new player promises to be a boon to the embedded systems industry. Gnash provides a customizable, flexible alternative for multiple microprocessors including MIPS, PowerPC, ARM, Sparc and other platforms.

“We pride ourselves on being processor-, platform-, and browser- agnostic.” says Savoye.

“Free software projects such as Gnash are important contributors to the viability of universal access projects.” says Savoye. “We work closely with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program which offers internet access and media creation tools to children in developing countries.”

OpenMediaNow supports many Linux distributions through Gnash. Ubuntu ships Gnash in their distribution, promoting it as a choice for their users while actively collaborating with Gnash developers. Terrasoft Solutions' Yellow Dog Linux v6.0 includes Gnash as a feature for the PlayStation 3, a 64-bit processor with little previous SWF-player capability. Users of non-x86 processors and 64 bit architectures such as the Sony PS3, the Apple PowerPC, and the IBM System P can now view YouTube videos and many flash-based websites. Browser plug-in support currently exists for Firefox, Mozilla, Konqueror and NetFront, and works best with Firefox 1.0.4 or newer. Gnash also runs on many other GNU/Linux distributions, embedded GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, Ports to Darwin and Windows are in progress for a future release.

With respect to founding OpenMediaNow for the continued development of Gnash, Savoye states, "By creating a members-based 501c3 non-profit, we can coordinate the development of this technology, splitting the cost amongst multiple industry donors. We hope to attract corporate members who will be committed to helping us pick up the development pace and establish our roadmap."

OpenMediaNow's Board of Directors consists of industry pioneers Bob Young, John Gilmore, David “Lefty” Schlesinger and Rob Savoye. Interested parties and prospective members should visit: http://www.openmedianow.org

For Press-related inquiries, please contact:

Lauren Riggin
Executive Director
+1 (303) 327-5412
lauren@openmedianow.org