Re: [tlug] playing real video with an open source player

[Martin Baehr <mbaehr@example.com>]

On Tue, May 04, 2004 at 12:11:31PM +0900, Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> As for free alternatives, according to the little I know it's hard to
> be sure there are any.  The problem is that video codec is a hard
> problem, and therefore the area is rife with patents (deserved ones,
> by traditional standards, unlike most software patents).  AFAIK none
> are administered by trustworthy open-source organizations.  So any
> reasonably effective codec is very possibly in breach of the claims of
> one or more patents.

are you aware of the ogg project?
http://www.xiph.org/ogg/

the ogg vorbis audio codec claims to be patent free.

and the ogg theora video codec based on the vp3 codec while not patent free 
says the following in their faq ( http://www.theora.org/theorafaq.html )

  Q: Isn't vp3 a patented technology?

  A: Yes, some portions of the vp3 codec are covered by patents. However,
  the Xiph.org Foundation has negotiated an irrevocable free license to
  the vp3 codec for any purpose imaginable on behalf of the public. It is
  legal to use vp3 in any way you see fit (unless, of course, you're doing
  something illegal with it in your particular jurisdiction). You are free
  to download vp3, use it free of charge, implement it in a for-sale
  product, implement it in a free product, make changes to the source and
  distribute those changes, or print the source code out and wallpaper
  your spare room with it. 


greetings, martin.
-- 
looking for a job doing pike programming, sTeam/caudium/pike/roxen training,
sTeam/caudium/roxen and/or unix system administration anywhere in the world.
--
pike programmer   travelling and working in europe            open-steam.org
unix system-      bahai.or.at                       iaeste.(tuwien.ac|or).at
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Martin Bähr       http://www.iaeste.or.at/~mbaehr/