Re: MP4 Player Available for Download

> >MPEG-4 might eventually reach the point where licensing isn't difficult
> >for those who have money to pay lawyers and purchase licenses. That still
> >leaves free software developers out of the picture.
> 
> This is the wrong perception. Patent pools are established so that anybody
> can get a license without paying a fortune to lawyers. The existing MPEG-2
> patent pool charges 4 dollars (I am told) for an MPEG-2 decoder and 5
> dollars (again, I am told) for an MPEG-2 encoder.

That's exhorbitant compared to the cost of the software, which is zero.
of course, this might explain why there are so many unlicensed players 
and encoders out there - people are widely ignoring these patents.
still, while it's heartening to see patents being routinely ignored, 
it's not good to have the developers or distributors of free software 
threatened by the possibility of patent lawsuits.  

protocol standards need to be free, period.

> The ship is advancing full steam, no iceberg is sight

the same thing was true of the Titanic.

Keith

Received on Sunday, 1 April 2001 15:19:47 UTC