New mp3 license terms

CrystalSnakeCrystalSnake Join Date: 2002-01-27 Member: 110Members
in Off-Topic
According to a <a href="http://slashdot.org/articles/02/08/27/1626241.shtml?tid=155" target="_blank">recent article</a> on <a href="http://www.slashdot.org" target="_blank">Slashdot</a>, the MP3 licensing terms have changed.
I was wondering if this might affect NS, since NS is going to contain an MP3 decoder.
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Comments

  • DOOManiacDOOManiac Worst. Critic. Ever. Join Date: 2002-04-17 Member: 462Members, NS1 Playtester
    hm... this could direct things dramatically. like no more free winamp. also games will now be even less likely to use mp3 format in their games if they have to shell out the cash twice...
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  • CollateralDamageCollateralDamage Join Date: 2002-07-15 Member: 949Members
    Isn't this <b>on</b>-topic?

    The logic of this license change eludes me. Since when do you <i>raise</i> your prices when a competitor (<a href="http://www.vorbis.com" target="_blank">Ogg Vorbis</a>) enters the market?

    I'm not sure whether a decoding license is even applicable here, considering they are selling a <a href="http://mp3licensing.com/royalty/games.html" target="_blank">separate license</a> for games.

    A perfect example why Free Software is better than proprietary code.
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  • Nemesis_ZeroNemesis_Zero Old European Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 75Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Note: No license fees are due if less than 5 000 copies of a particular game title are distributed.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I'm not familiar with advocatenglish, but isn't NS technically going to distribute absolutely nothing?
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  • GwahirGwahir Join Date: 2002-04-24 Member: 513Members, Constellation
    dis·trib·ute   Pronunciation Key  (d-strbyt)
    v. dis·trib·ut·ed, dis·trib·ut·ing, dis·trib·utes
    v. tr.
    To divide and dispense in portions.

    To supply (goods) to retailers.
    To deliver or pass out: distributing handbills on the street.

    To spread or diffuse over an area; scatter: distribute grass seed over the lawn.
    To apportion so as to be evenly spread throughout a given area: 180 pounds of muscle that were well distributed over his 6-foot frame.
    To separate into categories; classify.
    Logic. To use (a term) so as to include all individuals or entities of a given class.
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  • Sgt_XSgt_X Join Date: 2002-03-01 Member: 261Members
    A good lawyer could probably have downloads count as distribution but it really wouldn't be worth going after NS. Now if NS succesfuly got onto Steam (which is billed as the ultimate distribution software) they could go and try and sue Valve, and Valve has some pockets.

    Oh and <a href="http://www.xiph.org/ogg/vorbis/openletter.html" target="_blank">this</a> was linked from the first site you linked CD, I found it amusing.  <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.natural-selection.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
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  • CollateralDamageCollateralDamage Join Date: 2002-07-15 Member: 949Members
    How would you count the number "distributed copies" of a downloadable game? How much does an incomplete download count? How much a double download from the same IP?

    This touches a fundamental issue for all digital content providers; copyright and license terms just don't make sense when applied to a technology which is <i>based</i> on unrestricted copying of data.

    The fall of mp3 will just be a matter of time now.
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