Making Tech Headlines · Page 7
Roku's Fish Tank Gets a Corporate Owner and Promptly Loses Its License
· New York time
Roku is removing its Aquatic Life fish tank screensaver on December 1 and switching affected users to Roku City. According to Cord Cutters News, the creator pulled the license after Roku's sale to Fox was announced. The animation, called Marine Aquarium, has been available to Roku OS users for a decade. Artist Jim Sachs created it and holds the copyright, while Roku licensed it through Prolific Publishing. Its departure turns a quiet living-room feature into a visible consequence of a corporate transaction. For users who liked the aquarium, the change means the familiar fish will give way to the platform's cityscape unless they choose another option. A screensaver can look like a permanent part of a device, but this one depended on a licensing agreement with its creator. The switch is small compared with the deal that preceded it, yet it neatly exposes the business underneath the soothing image. Viewers paid attention to the fish because the fish required no attention. Now a question of ownership and licensing has interrupted the calm. Roku City may be a perfectly serviceable replacement, but it is a hard sell to an aquarium fan: the fish have been moved out, and the landlord has offered a view of downtown.
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