<s>
Voddler	B-Application
was	O
a	O
Stockholm	O
,	O
Sweden-based	O
provider	O
of	O
a	O
video-on-demand	B-Application
(	O
VOD	O
)	O
platform	O
and	O
a	O
streaming	O
technology	O
for	O
over-the-top	O
(	O
OTT	O
)	O
streaming	O
on	O
the	O
public	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Scandinavia	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
was	O
primarily	O
known	O
for	O
the	O
commercial	O
VOD-service	O
Voddler	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
launched	O
in	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
company	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
2005	O
and	O
developed	O
its	O
own	O
streaming	O
solution	O
,	O
called	O
Vnet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
running	O
the	O
consumer	O
service	O
Voddler	B-Application
,	O
the	O
company	O
Voddler	B-Application
also	O
offers	O
,	O
since	O
2013	O
,	O
Vnet	O
as	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
technology	O
for	O
other	O
streaming	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
Bollyvod	O
,	O
a	O
global	O
VOD-service	O
for	O
Bollywood-content	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
built	O
for	O
the	O
Indian	O
movie	O
industry	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
pilot	O
in	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
Group	O
went	O
bankrupt	O
in	O
January	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
's	O
streaming	O
technology	O
,	O
called	O
Vnet	O
by	O
the	O
company	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
peer-to-peer-based	O
video	O
content	O
delivery	O
solution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
p2p-streaming	O
,	O
movies	O
are	O
not	O
streamed	O
from	O
a	O
central	O
server	O
or	O
content	B-Operating_System
delivery	I-Operating_System
network	I-Operating_System
(	O
CDN	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
from	O
other	O
users	O
who	O
have	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
movie	O
on	O
their	O
units	O
after	O
seeing	O
the	O
movie	O
earlier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Vnet	O
client	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
separate	O
application	O
that	O
uses	O
closed	O
source	O
proprietary	O
code	O
from	O
Voddler	B-Application
and	O
is	O
run	O
as	O
background	O
daemon	B-Operating_System
or	O
service	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VOD-service	O
Voddler	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
accessible	O
via	O
web	O
browsers	O
and	O
apps	O
in	O
selected	O
markets	O
,	O
allows	O
registered	O
users	O
with	O
a	O
broadband	O
connection	O
to	O
stream	O
movies	O
and	O
TV-shows	O
over	O
the	O
public	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
requiring	O
users	O
to	O
have	O
an	O
invitation	O
to	O
the	O
service	O
during	O
the	O
first	O
months	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
was	O
fully	O
opened	O
in	O
Sweden	O
on	O
1	O
July	O
2010	O
and	O
soon	O
thereafter	O
in	O
Norway	O
,	O
Denmark	O
and	O
Finland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
catalog	O
soon	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
became	O
a	O
mix	O
of	O
free	O
movies	O
(	O
ad-funded	O
or	O
AVOD	O
)	O
;	O
rental	O
movies	O
(	O
pay-per-view	O
or	O
TVOD	O
)	O
;	O
films	O
that	O
were	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
package	O
(	O
subscription	O
or	O
SVOD	O
)	O
;	O
and	O
titles	O
for	O
purchase	O
(	O
Electronic	B-Application
Sell-Through	I-Application
or	I-Application
EST	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
built	O
its	O
catalog	O
through	O
license	O
agreements	O
with	O
content	O
owners	O
such	O
as	O
Warner	O
Bros.	O
,	O
Paramount	O
,	O
Sony	O
and	O
Disney	O
,	O
including	O
subsidiaries	O
such	O
as	O
Touchstone	O
Pictures	O
and	O
Miramax	O
Films	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
company	O
itself	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
reached	O
over	O
1	O
million	O
registered	O
users	O
in	O
the	O
Nordics	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
opened	O
the	O
service	O
in	O
Spain	O
in	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
's	O
first	O
media	O
player	O
client	B-Protocol
required	O
a	O
separate	O
download	O
and	O
its	O
graphical	O
10-foot	B-General_Concept
user	I-General_Concept
interface	I-General_Concept
was	O
primarily	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
living-room	O
TV	O
with	O
a	O
remote	O
control	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
desktop	O
computer	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2010	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
updated	O
the	O
interface	O
to	O
allow	O
for	O
mouse	O
and	O
keyboard	O
control	O
,	O
both	O
for	O
selecting	O
movies	O
and	O
for	O
playing	O
them	O
in	O
the	O
Voddler	B-Application
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
first	O
mediaplayer	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
Public	I-License
Licensed	I-License
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
XBMC	B-Application
Media	I-Application
Center	I-Application
,	O
a	O
free	B-License
and	I-License
open-source	I-License
software	I-License
,	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
used	O
as	O
its	O
application	B-Application
framework	I-Application
for	O
the	O
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
controversy	O
in	O
2010	O
surrounding	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
Voddler	B-Application
's	O
video	O
player	O
(	O
see	O
below	O
under	O
"	O
GPL	B-License
controversy	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
changed	O
the	O
framework	O
for	O
its	O
player	O
and	O
has	O
based	O
it	O
since	O
then	O
on	O
Adobe	O
Flash	O
and	O
Adobe	O
Air	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
not	O
open	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
about	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
also	O
stopped	O
demanding	O
a	O
separate	O
download	O
of	O
the	O
media	O
player	O
and	O
instead	O
started	O
using	O
a	O
player	O
that	O
was	O
embedded	O
directly	O
into	O
the	O
browser	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
new	O
player	O
,	O
just	O
like	O
the	O
old	O
one	O
,	O
takes	O
it	O
stream	O
from	O
Voddler	B-Application
's	O
streaming	O
cloud	O
Vnet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
23	O
June	O
2011	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
announced	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
an	O
Android	B-Application
app	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
also	O
released	O
apps	O
for	O
iPhone	B-Operating_System
,	O
iPad	B-Device
,	O
Windows	B-Protocol
Phone	I-Protocol
,	O
SymbianSymbian	O
och	O
MeeGo	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
in	O
2013	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
has	O
increasingly	O
started	O
to	O
use	O
browser-based	O
streaming	O
instead	O
of	O
building	O
dedicated	O
apps	O
for	O
each	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
its	O
first	O
video	O
player	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
GNU	B-License
Public	I-License
Licensed	I-License
(	O
GPL	B-License
)	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
XBMC	B-Application
Media	I-Application
Center	I-Application
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
also	O
developed	O
its	O
own	O
encryption	O
module	O
,	O
to	O
protect	O
the	O
movies	O
streamed	O
via	O
the	O
player	O
from	O
unauthorized	O
copying	O
or	O
downloading	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
24	O
February	O
2010	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
closed	O
down	O
the	O
service	O
,	O
having	O
been	O
hacked	O
by	O
anonymous	O
programmers	O
who	O
had	O
recreated	O
these	O
missing	O
code	O
parts	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
had	O
added	O
to	O
its	O
media	O
player	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
missing	O
code	O
made	O
it	O
possible	O
for	O
other	O
media	O
player	O
to	O
attach	O
to	O
Voddler	B-Application
's	O
own	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
could	O
save	O
the	O
streamed	O
films	O
to	O
their	O
harddrive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
use	O
case	O
violated	O
the	O
licensing	O
deals	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
had	O
signed	O
with	O
the	O
content	O
owners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
motivation	O
for	O
their	O
attack	O
,	O
the	O
anonymous	O
programmers	O
said	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
,	O
according	O
to	O
GPL	B-License
,	O
should	O
have	O
published	O
the	O
code	O
for	O
the	O
encryption	O
module	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
open	O
source	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
claimed	O
they	O
had	O
met	O
the	O
requirements	O
of	O
GPL	B-License
,	O
which	O
the	O
anonymous	O
group	O
argued	O
was	O
wrong	O
,	O
insisting	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
had	O
to	O
distribute	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Voddler	B-Application
source	O
code	O
needed	O
to	O
compile	B-Language
the	O
Voddler	B-Application
player	O
executable	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Voddler	B-Application
re-opened	O
its	O
service	O
on	O
8	O
March	O
2010	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
with	O
a	O
new	O
media	O
player	O
,	O
no	O
longer	O
based	O
on	O
XBMC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
encryption	O
protection	O
was	O
essential	O
for	O
Voddler	B-Application
,	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
keep	O
its	O
content	O
license	O
agreements	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
giving	O
the	O
code	O
module	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
open	O
source	O
project	O
was	O
tantamount	O
to	O
removing	O
the	O
encryption	O
,	O
Voddler	B-Application
chose	O
to	O
completely	O
replace	O
the	O
player	O
with	O
a	O
commercially	O
available	O
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voddler	B-Application
Sweden	O
AB	O
is	O
a	O
venture-backed	O
,	O
privately	O
held	O
company	O
,	O
based	O
in	O
Stockholm	O
,	O
Sweden	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
reorganized	O
in	O
2008	O
and	O
investors	O
Marcus	O
Starberger	O
and	O
Mathias	O
Hjelmstedt	O
invested	O
in	O
Voddler	B-Application
Inc	O
.	O
Marcus	O
Starberger	O
and	O
Mathias	O
Hjelmstedt	O
took	O
their	O
place	O
as	O
new	O
founders	O
and	O
marked	O
a	O
new	O
era	O
for	O
streaming	O
services	O
,	O
video	B-Application
on	I-Application
demand	I-Application
(	O
VOD	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
2010	O
,	O
Marcus	O
Starberger	O
chose	O
to	O
resign	O
his	O
leading	O
position	O
at	O
Voddler	B-Application
after	O
learning	O
that	O
Voddler	B-Application
had	O
infringed	O
copyright	O
in	O
its	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
GPL	B-License
license	I-License
.	O
</s>
