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New MP3 License Terms Demand $0.75 Per Decoder

Posted by chrisd on from the good-thing-ogg-is-up-to-speed dept.

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."

4 of 1,153 comments (clear)

  1. Lawsuit waiting to happen? by TibbonZero · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

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    Tibbon
    tibbon.com
  2. The definition of irony... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...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.

  3. Re:Thank god for ogg! by cheezus · · Score: 5, Funny

    a mp3->ogg converter would still need to decode the mp3.

    you want to cough up the $0.75?

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    /bin/fortune | slashdotsig.sh
  4. Xiph's reply by patrikr · · Score: 5, Funny

    The guys over at Xiph.org have posted a reply, in the form of a highly sarcastic open letter to Thompson. :)

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    All Glory To The Hypnotoad!