On Sun, 6 Oct 2002, at 1:01am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > I'd intended to explain that open-source MP3 players were permitted under > the terms of their license ...
And that license is available where? The MP3 algorithms are patented. Thus, without a license, one cannot legally use the algorithms. Per the <http://www.mp3licensing.com> website, "Use of our patents is not related to a specific implementation of encoders and decoders, which means that a license under our patents is needed." I can find no statement that says "open-source" or "free" MP3 decoders are permitted anywhere on that site. Yes, there have been statements from Thomson Multimedia that "free" (gratis) decoders are permitted. However, those statements may or may not constitute grant of license, and they certainly are not perpetual and non-revokable. Those statements are also contradicted in other statements. For example, on the website <http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/mp3-licensing.html>, there is this infamous statement: "We just are not enforcing the decoder rights on decoders which are software only and have been written by some freeware author (i.e. are freeware). Please understand that this sentence does not mean that I give an implied decoder license to everybody writing freeware code..." As near as I have been able to determine, Thomson Multimedia has not granted an explicit, perpetual, non-revokable license for the use of their MP3 decoder patents in free (gratis) software. That means distribution of a GPL'ed MP3 decoder is, at the very least, questionable in legality. > ... and in fact the terms have not changed at all ... All that means is that GPL'ed MP3 decoders have been illegal all along. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
