New MP3 license terms demand $0.75 per decoder

[The Edge]

Not sure if this is new/old news but I just read this on Slashdot.org.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/27/1626241&mode=thread&tid=155

"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 (http://www.mp3licensing.com/royalty/software.html) -- it's $0.75 per decoder. As a consequence, Red Hat has already removed all mp3 players from the Rawhide development version."

Even more of a reason to support other open source formats such as Ogg if you ask me. Screw FhG, this isn't a move designed to improve profits, it's a move designed to drive the opensource guy up the wall.
Sorry if this is old news.

Edge

[Koepi]

Those license terms are 1 1/2 year old.
Dunno why they're shlashdot'ed just now.

Read more about it at

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/vza-28.08.02-000/

(germany's leading computer magazine, use babelfish.altavista.com for translations).

regards,
Koepi

[LotionBoy]

This could quite possibly be the dumbest thing they've ever done. Do they wish to destroy the following that MP3 has? Actually, maybe that is the case. I can see the RIAA paying them off to do this, in an attempt to squash the online music trading industry. It's the sort of really, really, stupid thing that the RIAA would come up with. Thank god for Vorbis. :-)

LotionBoy

Lol. It's going to be really amusing to watch them try to stop WinAMP from spreading for free.

[The Edge]

Just seen this a few minutes after my first post.
Ogg Vorbis responds to new MP3 licensing fees (http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/openletter.html)

It's dated yesterday, 27th. This I think is a change with "Decoders" and not mp3 "Encoders".

A good read :D

@Koepi
I speak only a little German. Thanks anyhow

Edge

[Koepi]

Edge,

no problem ;)

I like the irish (heh, my step mother is irish actually), so I can forgive the lack of german language skills quite easily while thinking of a delicous pint of murphy's... :)

Best regards,
Koepi

EDIT: it has to be fresh from tap of course - bottles or cans are for homies ;)

[Koepi]

here's the translation link:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/urltrurl?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fnewsticker%2Fdata%2Fvza-28.08.02-000%2F&lp=de_en&tt=url

YET another EDIT:

Muahahaha! That translation is SO cool... I'll save it to harddisk and send it around to my friends... *LOL*

EDIT2:

they have the article up in "more native" english as well:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/urltrurl?lp=de_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heise.de%2Fenglish%2Fnewsticker%2Fdata%2Fjk-28.08.02-008%2F

...I wonder how they tweaked it so the translation makes more sense?

[The Edge]

Koepi, Ich habe einen deutschen Onkel, also haben wir etwas im Common. Nicht sicher über dieses Murphys zwar:) Mehr eines Guinneß Mannes selbst. Halten Sie, das Murphys zu trinken und große apps zu schreiben.


Or the non-babelfish version:)

Koepi,
I have a german uncle so we have something in common.
Not sure about that Murphys though:)
More of a Guinness man myself.

Keep drinking the Murphys and writing great apps.

Edge

[mikemikez]

Well,

XviD and DivX 4/5 have same sort of problems but if I try to discuss that on these forums I get flamed all over...

How deeply is the MPEGLA involved in any of these codecs? They sure push their standard you know, totally free market penetration for the MPEGLA.

I think the only way to go is to make open source software that does not specifically rely on any patented stuff otherwise you'll be digging your own grave and helping the patent owner gain market share while at it!

BTW, I didn't hear any people yet on the subscriber registration part of the MPEG4 licensing.... To me it sounds like the most insane form of media-control ever introduced. Am I correct?


Mike

[redcane]

They've also got an "up-front" fee... Perhaps we could start a net-telethon and get $2 from everyone to pay the fee?

I don't know, maybe there are loopholes, like $0.75 per decoder is probably per decoder sold, not per decoder downloaded, and since they aren't being sold... :-)

[bb]

Thomson published a statement as a reaction:

"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."


Source: Online pages of the German c't magazine,
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/vza-29.08.02-000/

bb

[The Edge]

Thanks for that bb.

Edge

[Koepi]

Originally posted by mikemikez
Well,

XviD and DivX 4/5 have same sort of problems but if I try to discuss that on these forums I get flamed all over...

How deeply is the MPEGLA involved in any of these codecs? They sure push their standard you know, totally free market penetration for the MPEGLA.

I think the only way to go is to make open source software that does not specifically rely on any patented stuff otherwise you'll be digging your own grave and helping the patent owner gain market share while at it!

BTW, I didn't hear any people yet on the subscriber registration part of the MPEG4 licensing.... To me it sounds like the most insane form of media-control ever introduced. Am I correct?


Mike

If you're just writing destructive posts instead of giving constructive critics it's no wonder you get flamed.
Please, consider this BEFORE posting your next post.

[bb]

I agree with Koepi.

bb

[killingspree]

Originally posted by The Edge
Koepi, Ich habe einen deutschen Onkel, also haben wir etwas im Common. Nicht sicher über dieses Murphys zwar:) Mehr eines Guinneß Mannes selbst. Halten Sie, das Murphys zu trinken und große apps zu schreiben.


Or the non-babelfish version:)

Koepi,
I have a german uncle so we have something in common.
Not sure about that Murphys though:)
More of a Guinness man myself.

Keep drinking the Murphys and writing great apps.

Edge

wow
well that is definitly fun to read if you speak english and german :D

[mikemikez]

"If you're just writing destructive posts instead of giving constructive critics it's no wonder you get flamed.
Please, consider this BEFORE posting your next post."

The post of mine like that are meant to be very contructive indeed!
Just read my posts and the replies, I get nothing but negativity thrown at me where as I honestly hope nothing but good for the whole media codec world. If that's not clear to you, well, ban me!

Tell me Koepie... Why is it so offensive of me to praise devellopers of software like XviD(I do you know!!) but being critical towards their choice to support standards like MPEG4?
Man, this new mp3 issue is the perfect example why more people should have some strong opinions about this and also post them on forums like this.

Again, I'm honestly very irritated and frightened of whats happening in the media world. Large corporations are legally closing down media distribution at the level of encoding, this is sick!

You and others act like I'm personally being offensive to people. That's very weird you know... Why do you feel so personally offended yourself? What are you defending? Why do people like you and neoneko get personal where as my critics are pretty general?

Koepie,

Just ban me anyway!

You suck you know, you really do!

Only replies and posts like:

"I agree with Koepie."
"Yes, XviD is sooo coool, nothing sucks about it"
"Oh yeah, open source! Must be good then!"

are allowed here...
Or some general bullshit.

Do me a favour, put a banner on top of this forum saying "NO CRITICS TOWARS ANY PROJECTS ALLOWED"

Or something like: "THE MPEGLA IS PAYING QUITE SOME PEOPLE HERE SO DON'T **** WITH IT!"


Mike

[Swede]

I'm sorry that you keep missunderstanding the replies you get. And this post is just another sad prof that you don't *want* to understand.
Constructive critisism is NOT anywhere near any of your lastest posts and this one goes too far.

[mikemikez2]

Thanks Swede for banning me!

You all go watch you favorite movie again... The Matrix probably..:)

Bashing Microsoft and supporting MPEG4, that's what this forum is all about, how pathetic!

Open-source nerds or soooo easy to scam, ain't they?


Mike

[Koepi]

As I wrote earlier:

Don't feed the troll.


That he's not as gifted by nature as usual people makes him angry, so he HAS to write such stuff to get some attention.

That is what trolls are about. So please, don't feed it, we tried to be nice with him as we feel somewhat responsible for natures moods, but sometimes you have to step over your ideals.

Regards,
koepi

[avih]

@mikemikez2:

your ideas are appreciated but your attitude isn't. pls pls pls, keep it civilized eventhough you think others are not. no need to get aggrssive/offensive even if you think that this is the only way to make your oppinions sound.

thanx.