Hi.

"Raab, Andreas" wrote:
> 
> Uh, oh ... MP3 is patented (at least to some extent).
> Those interested may look at
> 
>         http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/mp3.html
> 
> which has a separate section on licensing/patents.

>From a link there:

> * The ISO source code is freely available, and no charge is asked for it,
> as long as you do not compile it and do not distribute the binaries.

What a joke.

> * For the free distribution of decoders, they do not charge any royalty.

So, Squeak can decode mp3 files for free and then no trouble.

> * For the sold decoders, they ask a royalty of US $ 1,00. But as their 
> patent does not cover the decoding part, they can’t ask it.

Again no problem.

> * For hardware decoders (like MP-Man), a royalty of US $ 2,00 is asked, 
> but they can’t ask it neither.

No problem with hardwired VMs in Squeak machines running on a DSP either.

> * For software encoders, freely distributed or not, the royalties are 
> US $ 25 per encoder. The situation becomes here a little complicated. 
> If you write any encoder using the encoding scheme described in the patent 
> (this which is used in the ISO code), you must pay. You can try to write an
> MP3 encoder without using this encoding scheme, so in this case you will 
> not have to pay, but it’s obvious that it’s nearly impossible.

Opinion: this is outrageous. What if Knuth asked for royalties to the readers of
his books?!?!

> * If listeners have to pay for a song, they ask a fee of US $ 0,01 per song.
> If the encoder used is cover by their patent, they can ask it.

What a joke, again...

Andres.