[MPlayer-users] mp3 licensing

[gabor]

this was sent to the mandrake-cooker mailing list...

this should clarify some of the questions...

-----Forwarded Message-----

> From: newslett at orcon.net.nz
> To: Cooker Mandrake <cooker at linux-mandrake.com>
> Subject: [Cooker] [Fwd: Re: MP3 Licensing Question]
> Date: 29 Aug 2002 10:58:53 +1200
> 
> I forward this to the cooker list.
> 
> I wrote to Frauenhofer and their response is below. This does not
fully 
> answer our question as it does not address Open Source but
commercially 
> sold software decoders. BUT, it does say the licensing policy has not 
> changed and since Mandrake has not been sued up till now, that should
be 
> a good indicator that Mandrake should continue the way it always has -
> that is to continue (as before) to INCLUDE software based Open Source 
> MP3 Players in the distribution.
> 
> Hope this helps to calrify the issues involved.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Jason Greenwood
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: MP3 Licensing Question
> Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 22:47:01 +0200
> From: Stefan Geyersberger <kd_inel at iis.fhg.de>
> Reply-To: amm_info at iis.fhg.de
> Organization: Fraunhofer IIS-A
> To: jasongreenwood at hotpop.com
> CC: amm_info at iis.fhg.de
> References: <3D6CBE8E.3010602 at hotpop.com>
> 
> Hi,
> 
> the following statement was sent to the Slash Dot.org Web site for 
> clarification.
> It should be up within the next days.
> 
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Steve Syatt
> SSA Public Relations for Thomson multimedia (the lower case is not a 
> typo...)
> My Tel: (818) 501-0700
> 
> Statement from Thomson Multimedia, mp3 Licensing
> 
> In a posting appearing Tuesday August 27, 2002 on the Web site
> 'slashdot.org,' an individual cited a change in the mp3 license fee
> structure of Thomson and Fraunhofer.  The writer of the post
apparently
> misread the mp3 licensing conditions, as Thomson's mp3 licensing
policy has
> not experienced any change.
> 
> To clarify, since the beginning of our mp3 licensing program in 1995,
> Thomson has never charged a per unit royalty for freely distributed
software
> decoders.  For commercially sold decoders - primarily hardware mp3
players -
> the per-unit royalty has always been in place since the beginning of
the
> program.
> 
> Therefore, there is no change in our licensing policy and we continue
to
> believe that the royalty fees of .75 cents per mp3 player (on average
> selling over $200 dollars) has no measurable impact on the consumer
> experience.
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> 
> Jason Greenwood wrote:
>  > Dear Sir/Miss,
>  >
>  > A war is raging in the Open Source Community regarding MP3 Players.
In
>  > particular, the inclusion of the XMMS MP3 Player Plugin in the
>  > forthcoming Mandrake 9.0 Release. Is it required to obtain a
license for
>  > software based MP3 Players that are Open Source (Free)?? Your pages
used
>  > to address this but have been removed. Please clarify for all
involved.
>  >
>  > As an OSS software user I hope that you make exemptions in your
>  > licensing for Open Source Projects as improvements in the format
are
>  > returned to you in the form of source. As such you receive valuable
>  > development input in place of royalty fees. I was not commissioned
by
>  > anyone to write this to you. I am asking on my own behalf and on
behalf
>  > of Open Source Software Users the world over.
>  >
>  > Kindest Regards,
>  >
>  > Jason Greenwood
>  >
>  >
> 
-- 
That's life for you, said McDunn.  Someone always waiting for someone 
who never comes home.  Always someone loving something more than that 
thing loves them.  And after awhile you want to destroy whatever 
that thing is, so it can't hurt you no more.
                -- R. Bradbury, "The Fog Horn"