If the parallels between RealNetworks and Netscape Communications were once suggestive, they became flagrant Tuesday as the struggling streaming-media company followed the defanged browser pioneer in releasing its source code to the world. Fewer things get deeper under the skin of Rob Glaser, founder and chief executive of Seattle-based RealNetworks, than the Netscape comparison. But both companies wound up losing market share to Microsoft in a crucial Internet medium after the software giant bundled its competing program with Windows. What's more, the RealPlayer creator and Netscape each subsequently pursued content-oriented strategies as well as open source plans.
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