Alexandre Oliva wrote: > > It's not even Free Software, because of the patent licensing. > Accepting such a license puts you in a position in which, if you enjoy > your freedoms, you're breaking an agreement you accepted. If you're > not going to abide by the agreement, it would have been more ethical > to not accept it in the first place. > > If you obtain a decoder or encoder from another source that hasn't > given in to the patent holders and fed the monster, then it's Free > Software, at least until the patent holders obtain a court order that > prohibits you from enjoying your freedoms.
I remember when Fluendo announced their licensing and distribution strategy, there was a great disturbance in the Force. Many people from the community tried to point them the obvious fallacy, but apparently none was able to present the problem in such a simplistic and correct manner, which probably explains why they were not convinced to abandon it. Or maybe, just maybe, they knew all of this from the very beginning but it was a deliberate decision towards a wider acceptance and adoption of the GStreamer framework... Note, however, that the patent license applies only for the binary plugin as built and distributed by Fluendo (which is still a form of restriction and feeding the monster is always wrong). This "trick" is only possible because of the non-copyleft software license. It does not render the software non-free, since all downstream recepients of the source (and the binary as built by the gNS buildd) have all the freedoms, including the right to transfer them. So, in short -- the gNS project and the users of the gNS distribution do not have to accept this patent license, because they're not using the binaries built by Fluendo. I might be missing something, but whatever it is such patent agreements make me sick. Patents over the plug-in and/or Source Code ------------------------------------------- The binaries that can be created by compiling this Source Code released by Fluendo might be covered by patents in various parts of the world. Fluendo does not own or claim to own any patents on the techniques used in the code. (Such patents are owned or claimed to be owned by Thompson Licensing, S.A. and some other entities as the case may be). Fluendo has got the relevant licenses to cover its own activities with the Source Code but it is not authorized to sublicense nor to grant the rights which it has acquired over the patents. In this sense, you can work and deal freely with the Source Code under MIT provisions set out above, bearing in mind that some activities might not be allowed under applicable patent regulations and that Fluendo is not granting any rights in relation to such patents. The patent license granted to Fluendo only covers Fluendo's own Software and Source Code activities. In any case, this software license does not allow you to redistribute or copy complete, ready to use mp3 software decoder binaries made from the Source Code as made available by Fluendo. You can of course distribute binaries you make yourself under any terms allowed by the MIT license and whatever necessary rights you have or have acquired according to applicable patent regulations. As Fluendo can not assure that any of the activities you undertake do not infringe any patents or other industrial or intellectual property rights, Fluendo hereby disclaims any liability for any patent infringement that may be claimed to you or to any other person from any legitimate right's owner, as stated in MIT license. So it is your responsibility to get information and to acquire the necessary patent licenses to undertake your activities legally. _______________________________________________ gNewSense-users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnewsense-users
