On Thu, Aug 15, 2002 at 12:26:33AM -0400, Richard Houser wrote: > I'm joining in a bit late, but as far as I remember there were three > (maybe more?) totally different algorithms in common use to get an mp3 > as a result. I think these were ISO, Xing, and Fraunhofer based. If I > recall, Fraunhofer was the fastest algorithm that gave the most lossy > compression encoding, and ISO was the highest quality out there. I > think BladeEnc and a few other open source codecs used the ISO > algorithms. Do you mean to say that Fraunhofer owns the patents on > several algorithms, and only markets the lossy version? I'm not joking, > but am really curious about this one. I remember hearing about lawsuit > threats about 5 years ago relating to this, but as far as I know it was > determined that Fraunhofer didn't hold the pattents on the algorithms in > question.
Fraunhofer claims their patent covers all mp3 audio streams irregardless of the algorithm's that generated them. Other people dispute that. To my knowledge it hasn't been fought in court yet. Which means either Fraunhofer has a good case or everyone else is too chicken to stand up to them. -- Ben Reser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://ben.reser.org If your love has no hope of being welcomed do not voice it; for if it be silent it can endure, a guarded flame, within you. - The Wisdom of the Sands
