Slashdot Mirror
Real Pays For Legal MP3 Playback On Linux
kforeman (aka Kevin Foreman, GM of Helix RealNetworks, Inc.) writes "As part of the free RealPlayer 10 for Linux, Real has paid Thomson for a legal MP3 playback license and then includes it at no cost as part of the newly released RealPlayer 10. As I speak to people, many are under the false impression that MP3 playback patent and royalty rights are free, since there are open source implementations of MP3 playback available. Not true. Nonetheless, we are glad to do our part of making the Linux desktop a first class citizen by legally providing MP3 playback to users via our new RealPlayer."
I wonder if Real are positioning themselves to get their client distributed with distributions. We might finally see Fedora (et al) with an mp3 player.
I wonder what the license says about redistributing the client? Would Fedora et al be able to distribute it?
In the meantime, I'll stick to Gentoo since they are happy to provide source code for all sorts of mp3 players.
There's a sizeable difference between being able to do it and being able to do it legally.
This still doesn't make Real Player a good choice for media playback.
Um, the people who have the patents are the ones that made the standard. They didn't have to publish it at all if they didn't want to. If you don't like the fact that MP3 is patented, use OGG or other non-patented formats. The MP3 patent isn't like one-click where they patented something very obvious(such as a digital form for storing music), they patented their algorithm. Like I said, it's not the only algorithm available, and if you don't like the patent, don't use the stuff. Simple as that. Not everyone enjoys publishing their ideas just so free software can "borrow" them......
Monstar L
And yet the slashbots will still find a way to make them appear evil. After all, they're competing with apple.
I am trolling
great please tell me how to get my audiotron to play ogg's, oh and my ipod.
STFU about ogg until you can play them on all the popular hardware.
Oh why does my car stereo not play ogg's? got a firmware upgrade for it?
no?
nobody and I mean NOBODY gives a shit about OGG.
until it is playable in all portable, car and home players it is as good as non-existant.
And, if you don't want to be sued, use a free and better lossy format (e.g.: Ogg Vorbis for music or Ogg Speex for speech).
you mean if you do not want to use your portable devices anymore use OGG.
I love ogg, but it is worthless to 90% of us that use mp3.
my car stereo does not support it, my home stereo's high end player does not support it and the 5 different portable players in the house does not support it.
therefore it is not a choice.
Until people pester the hell out of the player makers to support ogg, it will stay a special segment that very few use.
players like the audiotron and other home stero players can support it but the developers are being asses and refuse to add it. many portables certianly have the power to use it and again, the makers are intentionally refusing to use it.
until large numbers of people ask for OGG support and flood the support channels of the player makers it will never be supported.
I suggest that many here pice a few mp3 player makers and get at least 5 friends to mail the support email address asking for ogg support.
Until then, OGG is not the answer to anyone.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Of course, this patent is not really a valid patent as it is not on an invention (and didn't take time and effort and there's probably prior art and it would likely not have been kept a trade secret).
Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
[This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
While you've got your +5 Funny, Real has been making a concerted effort to put out some good software lately. They've have removed the components that gave them a bad rap, and have been trying to do some decent things.
I say it is probably time for people to give them a fair chance again. After all, before Microsoft it was IBM that was the bane of computer geeks everywhere... and look at them now. If IBM can change their spots, then maybe Real can too.
Bingo! Software copyrights are understandable. Software patents are ridiculous.
I'm very choosy about which laws I break.
There actually isn't any spyware in the most recent versions, and they've got a lot less bloated. I'll be the first to admit Real used to be one of the worst companies around, but they really do seem to have improved recently.
Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
I have no idea what kind of linux users Real is trying to appeal to. Is there anyone out here remotely interested in running Real software on their Linux distro?
Sample this!
Secondly, there is a big difference between a simple MP3 or Ogg Vorbis capable client and an actual stream player. Playing your MP3s and movies off your hard drive is not the end all of streaming...in fact, its not really streaming at all, but rather decoding and/or progressive downloading. How about live streaming from an actual broadcast? For that, you need an actual stream client: Windows Media Player, Real Player, Quick Time, and Flash with its content server.
Besides Real Helix, what other live network stream clients with actual stream servers are there for Linux? Unless we can name a couple of decent live streaming alternatives, perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to slam everything Real does?
I listened to MP3 vs Ogg. Yes, I've heard a difference in clarity at low encoding rates. Yes, I've also not noticed much of a difference at higher encoding rates (say, 160bps variable in MP3). What I have noticed is that, while I would prefer to encode my things to Ogg, the lack of HARDWARE that natively supports the Ogg format is a serious drawback.
One of the little toys on my wish list does have Ogg support, but 99% of my music has been ripped in MP3 format. Converting that to Ogg gets me nothing. Reripping it in Ogg costs me time. What do I get out of it? I can play it on a computer, and I can play it on an iRiver. I cannot burn a DVD and drop it in my stereo to play many hours of music through far better than my computer speakers. To me, that's a waste of time for only marginal improvements.
Ogg may be technically better, but until it's pushed into hardware playback devices more than it has been, it will always remain a format for audiophiles willing to put up with the incompatabilities just to listen to music.
I know! I'll claim a patent on "adding one to something" and charge a licence fee every time anyone adds one to anything. I'll also patent adding two and subtracting one; adding 0.5 twice; doubling, adding two and halving, and a few other methods anyone might use to "get around" the licence restrictions. I won't licence the "workarounds" at all, because anybody using those methods clearly is a thief and a cheat. It may not be obvious to you, but it's still a mathematical process and as such, it belongs to the universe. In fact, it's only not obvious if you're not an advanced enough mathematician to see straight away how it works.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
They have always put out their product on linux, it usually worked more consistently than a flash plugin, and IIRC it was always declawed (because they knew how picky we are about that sort of thing, and that'd we'd notice).
Not that I used it all that much what with mplayer and all, but it was nice to think they weren't complete jerks.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
The only way Ogg Vorbis is ever going to take off is if people start using them heavily and demand that it be included in their players. If everyone just waits around for it to happen, it never will.
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
And I bet the MP3s sound just wonderful on this high end player. Chirp chirp, schwoosch =)
because they weren't enforcing their IP rights, people figured they were up for grabs.
Well, then those people were mistaken.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here, but if you give away an intellectual property right, isn't taking it back legally questionable?
Ok, you're wrong. You are confusing patents, trademarks, and copyright.
Thomson has a patent on mp3 algorithms. If you want to use their algorithms while the patent is valid, you need to get their approval. If thomson decides not to enforce their rights today, that doesn't stop them from enforcing their rights tomorrow. Patents last about 20 years.
Trademarks can last forever, like Coke, but, trademarks can be lost if they are not enforced and they moved into the public domain.
For example, Xerox dominated the photocopier market so much that many people began to use xerox as a verb (go xerox this for me).
Or kleenex instead of tissue. Or "google this for me" instead of "search google for this"
If a trademark is not defended, it can be lost, but you are not obligated to defend a patent. Your right to seek damages for patent infringment is not diluted by time.
Questionable is the right word for this. If you let your invention to slip out without protecting it and it becomes part of "popular culture", then you can lose your patent. It all depends on what kind of mood the judge is in
Not at all. You are confusing trademarks and patents.
If you let your trademark slip out without protecting it and it becomes part of "popular culture", then you can lose your trademark.
Patents have no such restriction.
Does a word processing program have a picture of a typewriter that you have to click on in order to type characters? So why the fuck does an MP3 player have to look like a stereo deck?
Nor does the end of the promotion end the fact that you own the bannanas you bought. What the MP3 people are doing is giving bannanas away, and when everyone has taken bannanas charging them for the bannanas taken while they were giving them away because they are no longer giving bannanas away. Totaly different situation.
That which is done from love exists beyond good and evil
Computers don't have an image of a typewriter, but they DO have a keyboard, which is designed in the same manner as a typewriter, slow key placement and all...
There is a lot to be said for designing things based on user expectations of utility. Having buttons that reflect buttons that users have experienced on previous audio equipment is not a dumb idea at all.
Certainly you can improve upon and modify the interface to reflect it's new environment (the Ipod for portable mp3 players, for example), but users like to be able to pick up something and have it work. In order for that to happen, there needs to be some familiarity.------ What's sadder than realizing you've filtered out your own comments?