Re: XMMS and the new MP3 patent terms
- Ignore the patent.
MP3 and Debian are both too big for this to go "under the radar".
- Invalidate the patent, e.g. by establishing prior art
Not very likely. The ideas behind MP3 have been examined by just about
everyone in the field of compression technology, and Frauenhofer has
been very upfront in claiming it as their own patent-protected system.
Anyone who could contest the patents would almost certainly have done so
by now.
or by proving that the patent holders weren't allowed to file
> for a patent under funding rules
Frauenhofer Gesellschaft is a government-funded lab with a mandate to
produce marketable technology. The whole point of Fruenhofer research is
to produce commercial products, not public-domain knowledge.
- Move mp3-decoding packages to non-US.
These are EU patents. The patent rules of all rich countries have
allowed these sorts of patents for a long time. Debian would have to set
up a server is some rogue state that doesn't have IP law and serve the
binaries from there; that's not bloody likely.
- Drop MP3 support from audio software
This is really the only alternative.
The situation will be analogus to DVD players and DeCSS libs. Players
will have a plugin system for codecs (most already do). The MP3 plugins
will be taken out of offical Debian packages, but unofficial MP3 plugin
deb's will be available from rogue sites that try to stay small and play
cat-and-mouse games with Frauenhofer lawyers. Just like with DVD
players, it will be a pain to make your players do MP3, but anyone who
puts his mind to it will be able to.
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