Yesterday we reported that changes in the licensing fee for MP3 decoders have been made, making it probably impossible for open source MP3 players to continue their development the legal way.
Ogg Vorbis is an open source lossy audio compression format (like MP3) and since they don't require any licenses to be paid, they hope to become the next MP3, someday. They send out an open letter to thank Thompson and Fraunhofer. Here is a part of the letter:
Thank you for the unbelievable amount of free publicity we have received in the wake of this announcement. If it weren't for the change in mp3 licensing, there's a very real chance that the continued adoption of our open standards may have slowed down. |
Thank you for presenting a reminder to people that when they choose a patented alternative over a free one, they will eventually have to pay in one way or another. It's been difficult to send this message all by ourselves; we're glad you've decided to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park.
Thank you for providing the impetus for millions of people and hundreds of companies to give an open, free alternative a try. We love it when people get a chance to evaluate technology, and we've been happy to present them with a superior alternative to mp3. If it weren't for the removal of the free-decoder exemption, it might have taken even longer for people to try it out.
Thank you for setting a precedent in providing free technology until the world has become hooked on it, and then charging a lot of money afterwards. This isn't a new idea, but we're glad that you've taken a stand to ensure that this practice will continue as long as vested interests control patents on multimedia. We hope that you'll continue in this pattern with MPEG-4, since we'll be releasing a free MPEG-4 competitor next summer.
Ogg Vorbis is gaining more and more populairy because the format is pretty good, the only thing is currently misses, is hardware support by the big manufacturers of MP3 players. Read the rest of the letter here.
Source: Ogg Vorbis
