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New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder
Götz writes "The licensing terms of Thomson and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, who are the owners of the mp3 patents, have changed. Now not only mp3 encoders but also
mp3 decoders require a license. This page lists the fees -- it's $0.75 per decoder. As a consequence, Red Hat has already removed all mp3 players from the Rawhide development version."
Let them come to me to cough-out 75 for my license. I hope they have plenty of fun!!!
Reminds me of the Simpsons when they realize the laws state that they are still in prohibition, its just that no one has enforced it...
Rev. Lovejoy-
See, it says we should be in prohibition, right below the law that states that ducks should wear pants.
Mayor Quimby-
My god, it does. Ducks must wear pants!
I didn't realize immediately that winamp is affected by this. Hopefully Nullsoft's parent company (AOLTImeWarnerTurnerOmniCorpKellogMotorGeneralFord ChevyMicroSunSoftSystems Ltd. Inc.) will absorb the cost for them. Otherwise, mp3 proliferation will collapse. Or we'll start seeing alot more advertisements in Winamp. Sigh.
Lordfly
hookers and grits.
Well, not exactly a check, more like 75 pennies.
In an envelope
Postage due
(In college once I paid a $2 [total BS] parking ticket in change, in one of those "postage will be paid by addressee" envelopes.)
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
Perhaps they are just getting their legal team cracking, and are just waiting for the right time to strike..
Odd, sueing someone over the IP of something that has caused more IP problems than anything else in history.
Tibbon
tibbon.com
ms already has root privileges to our lives, society, and government, so i don't think my little stupid computer matters too much! :)
Beware of greeks bearing .gifts.
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
...scads of people who have no problem whatsoever pirating hundreds of gigabytes of $19 CD's throwing a tizzy fit over the notion that someone else might have to pay $0.75.
a mp3->ogg converter would still need to decode the mp3.
you want to cough up the $0.75?
/bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
Yeah that makes sense. RedBook CD audio is uncompressed as well, but having an overpriced, tape-based solution is always superior.
Winamp has already bought a license.
AOL did however get into trouble because they tried to use the fact they owned Nullsoft to get out of buying another, see the license wasn't transferable.
Get your Unix fortune now!
Thank goodness I bought all those CDs!
call me a conspiracy theorist
ok, your a conspiracy theorist
Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.
This is what happens when they lay off their patent lawyer and replace him with a crack dealer in the name of cutting expenses.
my sig's at the bottom of the page.
It's a good thing I already converted all my MP3s to Windows Media!
*ducks*
-Kevin
Better yet load them with Liras.
...
Now how many millions would $0.75 that be
mmmmm.... i wonder.... is that valid/legal in europe ? marc :)
Show your support for this petition then.
I hereby support this petition.
Is there a petition i can sign to show my support for it?
The guys over at Xiph.org have posted a reply, in the form of a highly sarcastic open letter to Thompson. :)
All Glory To The Hypnotoad!
And bad spellers of the world, UNTIE!
seriouslyexcited.net
But you must be mistaken, I mean, millions of fans love Backstreet Boys and they can't all be wrong? And what about N'Sync, I mean, they almost sorta had cameo's in Eps2. Certainly the majority of people can determine what is true quality!