freedb Turmoil

While ripping a number of new purchases a week ago, I discovered that EAC was no longer receiving a response from freedb, the service responsible for providing track titles. After a quick investigation, it became apparent that freedb had imploded in an ugly fashion after a dramatic turn of events saw the departure of key development personnel from the project. Slashdot has an article detailing the affair, with links to backstory as well as a number of alternatives (Musicbrainz, and the freedb2 beta). If you are making use of original CDs, chances are that you will probably want to update your software.

Update: everything is back to normal! freedb service has been restored.