On 28 Jan 2007, jsa@pen.homeip.net wrote:
There are dozens of free software mp3 encoders/decoders in existance
This may be true, but are they legal it all countries? Even the Lame team have to skirt around the issue by billing it as educational code and do not provide binary downloads on their site: http://lame.sourceforge.net/about.php
and none of them have ever been contacted by these people about a license. Ever.
BladeEnc got into trouble: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/06/01/1826246&mode=thread This is a quote from the BladeEnc download page: ,---- | Due to the patents regarding mp3 technology, I can not distribute | BladeEnc in executable form from this page. Luckily though, there are | many countries where these patents are not enforceable or just not in | effect yet and some people living in those countries have graciously put | up Binary Distribution Points for BladeEnc. `----
Only organizations SELLING software that includes mp3 support (Such as Real) have to pay. Do you SERIOUSLY suggest that Real in paying 2% on every copy of realplayer GIVEN AWAY?
Thers is nowhere on http://www.mp3licensing.com/ that states that free software is excluded. Here are the rates: http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/software.html Charles -- "MSDOS didn't get as bad as it is overnight -- it took over ten years of careful development." (By dmeggins@aix1.uottawa.ca)