Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-21 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Aniruddha [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I just wanted to say that sounds like a great idea. Thanks! I really hope that the packages of debian-multimedia are included in Debian someday. I currently don't have the impression that the maintainer(s) of http://debian-multimedia.org have any

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-14 Thread Michelle Konzack
Am 2008-10-07 19:17:52, schrieb Didier Raboud: Yes... If I am in a country where the usage of the patented repo is forbidden for whatever reason, I could (legally) not rebuild the whole main myself. Even if there is no problem in your country you can not even build Etch from scratch... I

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-14 Thread Michelle Konzack
Hello Ben and *, Am 2008-10-08 00:07:18, schrieb Ben Finney: Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The best reference for patent enforcments I have is http://www.mpegla.com/news.cfm. However none of those lawsuits are comparable to debian, becuase: a) debian/spi is a

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-10 Thread Ben Finney
Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: A more significant distinction is, as I've pointed out several times already, that the Fraunhofer patents on MPEG audio algorithms *are known to be actively enforced* by the holder against parties who

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Manoj Srivastava [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Depending on the requirements of ftp-master, which *seem* to think that non-free were inappropriate for this kind of packages, my proposal tries to address that by introducing a new archive section. I am aware that this is against our current

Re: mpeg encoder patents

2008-10-09 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Clint Adams [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities I've not seen anyone argue that it is, nor request that we do such enforcement. Then you have been closing your eyes. I've already

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Robert Millan
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 04:44:40PM +0200, Reinhard Tartler wrote: Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: At the very least, we could distribute them in a specific patented section, with rules similar to non-free, and that we’d only mirror in countries where it is not a problem. While

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Robert Millan
On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 09:15:16PM +, Clint Adams wrote: On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 02:30:50PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: So I think we need to modify the proposal, not the policy. We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities or that we

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Robert Millan
On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 04:30:09PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote: [...]. I have absolutely no idea whether any of the software that I package is affected by some patent. You're putting all patents in the same bag, and it's not like that. For example, if you distribute a windowing system, you're

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Robert Millan
On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 11:41:16AM +0800, Paul Wise wrote: On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:39 AM, Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I fully agree with you in principle. The 'restricted' idea is basically a convenience service for our users and distributors. Such convenience services

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Robert Millan
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 05:54:22PM +0200, Holger Levsen wrote: Hi, On Tuesday 07 October 2008 16:44, Reinhard Tartler wrote: - packages in 'patented' must fulfill the requirements of the dfsg I dont think we should support the obsolete, useless wrong patent system by doing this. If

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Our users weight the quality of our product against the risk of liability that it carries. I think it's obvious we need some balance. In some cases (e.g. Linux, Glibc or X11) the risk is low and quality strongly depends on them; in others (e.g. MPEG

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: But software patents cover algorithms contained in programs, not the packages themselves. How about the more descriptive patent-encumbered then? I don't really have a strong opinion on the naming here. Perhaps I should really haved used 'main' and

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Ben Finney
Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 04:30:09PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote: [...]. I have absolutely no idea whether any of the software that I package is affected by some patent. You're putting all patents in the same bag, and it's not like that. Agreed; I

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Russ Allbery
Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 04:30:09PM -0700, Russ Allbery wrote: [...]. I have absolutely no idea whether any of the software that I package is affected by some patent. You're putting all patents in the same bag, and

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-09 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: A more significant distinction is, as I've pointed out several times already, that the Fraunhofer patents on MPEG audio algorithms *are known to be actively enforced* by the holder against parties who infringe those patents. Please back up that claim!

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Paul Wise
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 10:07 PM, Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While we are at it, would be nice to have a section for DMCA-impaired software such as libdvdcss. BTW, it's DMCA exemption time: http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/150150/post/640034464.html

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Holger Levsen
Hi, I was thinking whether not to mail this at all, or to -curiosa or to Gunnar, but then, I think it's useful to spread the message how silly patents are... On Tuesday 07 October 2008 21:13, Gunnar Wolf wrote: For positive proof, I'd buy it - but we must remember logical fallacies can be

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Loïc Minier
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008, Russ Allbery wrote: I would be very uncomfortable trying to fill out something that specific. It looks remarkably like legal advice that I'm not qualified to give or judge. I agree it looks like legal advice, and neither would I be capable of handing out legal advice.

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Manoj Srivastava
On Wed, Oct 08 2008, Reinhard Tartler wrote: Manoj Srivastava [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Do you see a particular problem with requiring that? Yes. I think main should remain self contained. This is the same reason we have a contrib section -- packages in contrib can not be built

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Clint Adams
On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 02:30:50PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: So I think we need to modify the proposal, not the policy. We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities or that we expose ourself to any kind of liability by distributing code that may

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Manoj Srivastava
On Wed, Oct 08 2008, Clint Adams wrote: On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 02:30:50PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: So I think we need to modify the proposal, not the policy. We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities or that we expose ourself to any kind

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Clint Adams
On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 04:37:26PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: So don't. Don't put any of the patent encumbered sources in main either -- there is nothing that says patent infringement does not happen as source code. That would meet the current policy as well.

Re: mpeg encoder patents

2008-10-08 Thread Ben Finney
Clint Adams [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities I've not seen anyone argue that it is, nor request that we do such enforcement. or that we expose ourself to any kind of liability by distributing code that may or may not

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Manoj Srivastava
On Wed, Oct 08 2008, Clint Adams wrote: On Wed, Oct 08, 2008 at 04:37:26PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote: So don't. Don't put any of the patent encumbered sources in main either -- there is nothing that says patent infringement does not happen as source code. That would

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-08 Thread Russ Allbery
Clint Adams [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We need to stop pretending that patent enforcement is one of our responsibilities or that we expose ourself to any kind of liability by distributing code that may or may not be patent-encumbered. This is exactly my concern as well. I have absolutely no

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Ben Finney
Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The best reference for patent enforcments I have is http://www.mpegla.com/news.cfm. However none of those lawsuits are comparable to debian, becuase: a) debian/spi is a non-profit organisation b) debian does not sell hardware Many recipients

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Ben Finney [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The best reference for patent enforcments I have is http://www.mpegla.com/news.cfm. However none of those lawsuits are comparable to debian, becuase: a) debian/spi is a non-profit organisation b) debian

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Josselin Mouette
Le mercredi 08 octobre 2008 à 00:07 +1100, Ben Finney a écrit : Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: However none of those lawsuits are comparable to debian, becuase: a) debian/spi is a non-profit organisation b) debian does not sell hardware Many recipients of Debian do

mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Holger Levsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Tuesday 07 October 2008 09:03, Robert Millan wrote: Unclaimed patents are precisely the reason we don't have any MPEG encoders in Debian (see http://techliberation.com/2006/05/11/mpeg-patent-thicket/). Wrong. We dont have mpeg encoders in Debian

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Robert Millan
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 03:44:47PM +0200, Josselin Mouette wrote: It has been already suggested to resurrect the non-us archive for such cases, but this is not even necessary, since it is not a problem for us to distribute such software from the US. At the very least, we could distribute

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Holger Levsen
Hi Reinhard, On Tuesday 07 October 2008 12:11, Reinhard Tartler wrote: Can you please backup that claim? Well, no and yes ;-) You confirm it yourself, but then say its not comparible. I only said that those patents are being enforced, which they are. (I didnt mention whether thats comparible

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: At the very least, we could distribute them in a specific patented section, with rules similar to non-free, and that we’d only mirror in countries where it is not a problem. While we are at it, would be nice to have a section for DMCA-impaired software

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Didier Raboud
Reinhard Tartler wrote: Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: At the very least, we could distribute them in a specific patented section, with rules similar to non-free, and that we’d only mirror in countries where it is not a problem. While we are at it, would be nice to have a section

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Didier Raboud [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: - source packages in 'main' may build-depend on packages in 'patented' This is problematic for a self-buildable main everywhere, no ? This means that buildds would need to add both 'main' and 'patented' to their sources.list, right. Do you see a

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Holger Levsen
Hi, On Tuesday 07 October 2008 16:44, Reinhard Tartler wrote: - packages in 'patented' must fulfill the requirements of the dfsg I dont think we should support the obsolete, useless wrong patent system by doing this. Also, something must patented in which / how many of the 160

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Paul Wise
On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 10:07 PM, Robert Millan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: While we are at it, would be nice to have a section for DMCA-impaired software such as libdvdcss. Presumably they couldn't be distributed from ftp-master (which is in the USA)? -- bye, pabs

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Michael Banck
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 05:54:22PM +0200, Holger Levsen wrote: Hi, On Tuesday 07 October 2008 16:44, Reinhard Tartler wrote: - packages in 'patented' must fulfill the requirements of the dfsg Also, something must patented in which / how many of the 160 juristrictions on this planet

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Didier Raboud
Reinhard Tartler wrote: Didier Raboud [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: - source packages in 'main' may build-depend on packages in 'patented' This is problematic for a self-buildable main everywhere, no ? This means that buildds would need to add both 'main' and 'patented' to their

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Didier Raboud [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Do you see a particular problem with requiring that? Yes... If I am in a country where the usage of the patented repo is forbidden for whatever reason, I could (legally) not rebuild the whole main myself. Usage is generally not the problem with that

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Holger Levsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Tuesday 07 October 2008 16:44, Reinhard Tartler wrote: - packages in 'patented' must fulfill the requirements of the dfsg I dont think we should support the obsolete, useless wrong patent system by doing this. I fully agree with you in principle.

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Gunnar Wolf
Michael Banck dijo [Tue, Oct 07, 2008 at 06:14:23PM +0200]: Also, something must patented in which / how many of the 160 juristrictions on this planet (to apply for this category)? How do you tell if a piece of software violates a patent? Run wc -l on the source; if the number is

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Loïc Minier
On Tue, Oct 07, 2008, Reinhard Tartler wrote: - introduce a new section 'patented' - packages in 'patented' must fulfill the requirements of the dfsg - source packages in 'main' may produce binaries in 'patented' - binary packages in 'main' must not depend on packages in 'patented' -

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Manoj Srivastava
On Tue, Oct 07 2008, Reinhard Tartler wrote: Didier Raboud [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: - source packages in 'main' may build-depend on packages in 'patented' This is problematic for a self-buildable main everywhere, no ? This means that buildds would need to add both 'main' and 'patented'

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Ben Finney
Manoj Srivastava [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Yes. I think main should remain self contained. This is the same reason we have a contrib section -- packages in contrib can not be built with the software contained in main. s/can not be built/can not be built and installed/ It's

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Russ Allbery
Loïc Minier [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Perhaps instead of trying to come with a hierarchical classification, we should simply expose what we know about patents and any other distribution issue in a machine readable way. What a bout a debian/distribution or debian/copyright2 file which

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Paul Wise
On Wed, Oct 8, 2008 at 1:39 AM, Reinhard Tartler [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I fully agree with you in principle. The 'restricted' idea is basically a convenience service for our users and distributors. Such convenience services already exist (debian-multimedia.org, debian-unofficial.org), Debian

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Paul Wise [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I fully agree with you in principle. The 'restricted' idea is basically a convenience service for our users and distributors. Such convenience services already exist (debian-multimedia.org, debian-unofficial.org), Debian doesn't need to start one. My

Re: mpeg encoder patents, Was: Bug#501190: ITP: moonlight

2008-10-07 Thread Reinhard Tartler
Manoj Srivastava [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Do you see a particular problem with requiring that? Yes. I think main should remain self contained. This is the same reason we have a contrib section -- packages in contrib can not be built with the software contained in main. Depending