[ale] The world just got screwed....

[Michael Hirsch]

On Tue, 2002-08-27 at 16:33, Mike Lockhart wrote:
> If anyone hasn't already seen it, immediately read this article:
> 
> "New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder"
> http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/27/1626241.shtml?tid=155
> 
> Maybe this is the conspiracy theorist coming out in me, but I have a
> funny feeling that RIAA had a lot to do with this.  Redhat has already
> removed ALL mp3 players/encoders from the Rawhide tree.  

Thompson labs has been threatening to do this for a couple of years. 
Their claims on mp3 decoding are a bit shakey, so they started by
charging for the encoding which was pretty legitimate.  Now that that is
well established they are going after decoders.

IMO, the mp3 encoder is as valid an invention as any piece of hardware. 
If any software should be patentable, the mp3 encoder is a good
example.  It is not one of thos obvious things like XOR cursor or
one-click shopping.

The decoder I am less certain about, and from what I've heard their
patent is not as clearly applicable in that case.

> On the upside, this will be a great boost for the Ogg format.

Yes indeed.

Michael


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