MP3 patents (was: Freerunner's Future)

Steve Mosher steve at openmoko.com
Sat Jun 6 17:47:03 CEST 2009


Al Johnson wrote:
> On Saturday 06 June 2009, Harald Welte wrote:
>   
>> On Fri, Jun 05, 2009 at 12:26:42PM -0700, Steve Mosher wrote:
>>     
>>> I am somewhat constrained in what I am able to say. On one view there is
>>> the position, held by some, that any hardware that is merely CAPABLE of
>>> mp3 decode is required to apply for a license.
>>>       
>> I think that position cannot hold strong in any court of law.  You cannot
>> charge a MP3 license for each and every general purpose computing device. 
>> This would mean that e.g. every PC mainboard would have to pay the MP3
>> royalties, and I can assure you, they dont ;)
>>
>> So even while sisvel or others might claim such a position, it is
>> pointless.
>>     
>
> That depends on what the point is. It's no good being right if you can't 
> afford to prove it. Many will pay for a license they don't need because it's 
> cheaper than litigation. It's a legal form of extortion.
>   
    +1.
  
>
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