Brian Kemp wrote:
Well, I've done a little digging, and I found this gem from the
wikipedia article on MP3:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3
Regardless of what the patent policy is today, it could change.
The USPTO issued at least two patents on ideas covering the LZW
compression algorithm (commonly used in making GIF files), one to IBM
and another to Unisys (this is its own problem with software patents).
In 1995, Unisys said:
Unisys does not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for
non-commercial, non-profit GIF-based applications, including those
for use on the on-line services.
Concerning developers of software for the Internet network, the same
principle applies. Unisys will not pursue previous inadvertent
infringement by developers producing versions of software products
for the Internet prior to 1995. The company does not require
licensing, or fees to be paid for non-commercial, non-profit
offerings on the Internet, including "Freeware".
In 1999 Unisys said:
Unisys has frequently been asked whether a Unisys license is required
in order to use LZW software obtained by downloading from the
Internet or from other sources. The answer is simple. In all cases, a
written license agreement or statement signed by an authorized Unisys
representative is required from Unisys for all use, sale or
distribution of any software (including so-called "freeware") and/or
hardware providing LZW conversion capability (for example, downloaded
software used for creating/displaying GIF images).
Source: http://burnallgifs.org/archives/
Unisys is leveraging the same power other patent holders have. Patent
license policies can change at the whim of the patent holder. There is
no guarantee a patent holder will grant you a license at all.
The patents seem to expire in the US in 2010. In the meantime, I'll
use Ogg Vorbis. (The wikipedia article states that the patent issue
is partially what spawned all of the competing formats.)
Where this discussion concerns policy recommendations for the entire
distribution (as opposed to your own personal use), I recommend checking
out the state of patents internationally because gNewSense GNU/Linux is
intended for use worldwide.
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent these patents
are generally good for 20 years. 20 years from the latest date of grant
of any of the patents listed in http://mp3licensing.com/patents/ falls
on October 20, 2023 (the "Method for transmitting a TDAC coded audio
signal" patent was granted in Norway on October 20, 2003). I offer this
as an estimate of when any of the known patents covering MP3 is no
longer enforcible anywhere in the world.
_______________________________________________
gNewSense-users mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnewsense-users
