> > > According to the DFSG this makes every mp3 decoder non-free or even > > > undistributable. > > > > It doesn't, actually. Although it might make it non-distributable > > under US law, and some other countries which honour the relevant > > patents. > > As I said above.... >
the decision made several months back was "let's wait and see". Red Hat removed mp3 support from their distro and their users have not been too happy with this. We obviously could take the "patents are bad and we refuse to support them" stance and remove the mp3 players as well. However no one has made it clear that *decoders* fall under the claims of Thomson and company or that they are actively enforcing them. If they actually cared, I suspect xmms and several other groups would have been contacted by lawyers by now. As Andrew noted, there are also legal avenues of defense as well. The patent is held in Germany which means there is no safe place to keep the packages if we decide to (re)move them.
