On Mon, Feb 01, 1999 at 03:05:01PM -0600, John Goerzen wrote: > On Mon, Feb 01, 1999 at 04:02:13PM -0500, Shaleh wrote: > > On 01-Feb-99 John Goerzen wrote: > > > Why should it be non-free if it's GPL? > > > > the mp3 patent > Which nobody has guaranteed is valid or defensable in Germany, let alone > anywhere else. (I believe the EU does not allow software/algorithm patents, > IIRC.) And which applies only to encoders. > > I don't see why we ought to let some lawyers trying to make a good bluff > scare us.
Fraunhofer institute holds the patent, we shouldn't take any chances. They have already treathened to sue or sued several people who used their encoder engine - let's hope that they won't get to the decoders. Debian has been very paranoid to the vague licencing terms of some progs in the past, from what I've seen. But that is not the reason why my first guess was non-free. It was the fact that mpg123 is in non-free, and x11amp is (according to the docs) based on it. BTW [EMAIL PROTECTED] address bounces, user unknown. I'll take that as a 'yes are the new maintainer' :) If anyone knows this man's current address, please, tell me. -- enJoy -*/\*- http://jagor.srce.hr/~jrodin/
