Forgive my uneducated brainstorm, but what if we invested in making the empeg software more "hackable". Make a build with the core closed-source functionality (audio, FIDs, caching, etc) but leave the rest unimplemented with hooks so we could bolt on our open-source interfaces, modules, displays, functions, etc. So we wouldn't start from scratch with an open-source player; we'd pay for a solid foundation.

Like Hugo mentioned about the Karma features needing a new UI: let the paid insider work the current closed-source empeg code into a foundation and let us write the UI (and other components). This may work if we had access to the closed-source components which interface with the UI (perhaps just the functions, their paramaters, their return values, and a description of what they do; close-source their code).

I would be willing to contribute $100 to this effort, if the software developers among us think it's reasonable.

One thing to remember is, "hell hath no fury like an empeg user scorned." Meaning: empeg users hate to pay for stuff and get nothing in return. I'm not doubting RobS in the least, but if people put money down, we need a system to be sure that they get what they paid for to avoid any potential problems.

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My comment on cloudiness just reflects my frustration with seeing iPods absolutely everywhere, and Karma barely at all.

Agreed, saddly. iPods even snuck into the LotR:TTT-EE Appendix 3 DVD. And I couldn't sell my friend on a Karma because he wanted the simplicity and supposed unshaking reliability of an iPod. Thankfully, we still have our empegs!