[Patents] False information

[gepicaam@cybercable.fr (gepicaam)]

Please, disregard this information, repeated from a misinformation of frenc=
h
journalist of  "O1INFORMATIQUE".

 French Secretary of Industry give a disclaimer :

"Il a bien dit qu'il =E9tait pour le d=E9veloppement du logiciel libre, mais 
le=
s
termes repris par les journalistes concernant les brevets ne sont pas tout =
=E0
fait exacts", temp=E8re l'entourage de Christian Pierret.

Best regards

Pierre BREESE  pb@breese.fr
BREESE MAJEROWICZ 3, avenue de l'op=E9ra 75001 PARIS
T=E9l. 0147036777  Fax 0147036778  http://www.breese.fr



> Another example of an Open Source (/ free software :) project shut down
> due to a patents threat:
>=20
> http://www.xiph.org/archives/vorbis-dev/200011/0286.html
>=20
> "An open-source audio movement lost a battle last week against the audio
> technology industry when a non-commercial developer stopped distributing
> compression software that Dolby and others claimed infringed on their
> patents. But the developer is still distributing the source code so that
> programmers can improve he technology. [???]"
>=20
> "According to the AAC Patent License Agreement, applicants must pay an
> administrative fee of $10,000, which does not guarantee they will get a
> license. Developers making consumer software applications that encode and
> decode music with AAC ust pay $1.35 for every piece of software they
> distribute, up to 100,000 units; fees are lower for more units sold."
>=20
> "But Dolby may prevent AAC from becoming an industry standard if it
> requires content and other technology companies to negotiate compatibilit=
y.
> "[That] just fosters everything that's wrong about media right now,"
> Moffitt said.  AAC encoding is used in files from Universal Music Group,
> BMG Entertainment and Liquid Audio, but because their file formats use
> different encryption systems, the files may not be compatible with variou=
s
> software and hardware players."
>=20
> Bottom line:
>=20
> 1) software patents harm open source projects;
>=20
> 2) software patents harm interoperability;
>=20
> S.