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Real Pays For Legal MP3 Playback On Linux

Posted by timothy on from the stepping-up-to-the-plate dept.

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."

3 of 618 comments (clear)

  1. Better and Free... by shamowfski · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    "Ogg Vorbis is a completely open, patent-free, professional audio encoding and streaming technology with all the benefits of Open Source." w00t for plagiarism.

  2. iRiver supports ogg. by Kickasso · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Cat got your tongue? (something important seems to be missing from your comment ... like the body or the subject!)

  3. Re:Props to them by B2382F29 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm sorry, but there's something to "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

    Isn't that supposed to be: "There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again."

    --
    Move Sig. For great justice.