Date: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 05:41:22 -0500 (EST) From: Trevor Johnson <trevor@jpj.net> To: Kris Kennaway <kris@obsecurity.org> Cc: ports-committers@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: ports/audio/lame Makefile Message-ID: <20040321042730.V93457@blues.jpj.net> In-Reply-To: <20040320234846.GA39998@xor.obsecurity.org> References: <200403201452.i2KEqJ9b039309@repoman.freebsd.org> <20040320234846.GA39998@xor.obsecurity.org>
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Kris Kennaway wrote: > > netchild 2004/03/20 06:52:19 PST > > > > FreeBSD ports repository > > > > Modified files: > > audio/lame Makefile > > Log: > > Trevor thinks we may be seen as a manufacturer of lame if we distribute > > packages, so mark the port as NO_PACKAGE for patent licensing > > reasons. > > > > The distfile is safe to distribute. My recommendation was that "it would be best to mark it RESTRICTED". > This has wide implications for the ports tree (e.g. it prevents GNOME > and KDE from being installed via packages). When I do grep lame /usr/ports/INDEX|cut -f1 -d\| I see 36 packages. I don't see how GNOME is involved, and KDE only seems to be via kdemultimedia. A simple expedient would be to remove kdemultimedia from the KDE metaport. > Clearly this interpretation of the legality of redistributing lame is > not standard. Well, let's see. The authors of the program warn us that Using the LAME encoding engine (or other mp3 encoding technology) in your software may require a patent license in some countries. --<URL:http://lame.sourceforge.net/about.html>; NetBSD pkgsrc has a line that says "LICENSE= fee-based-commercial-use": <URL:http://cvsweb.netbsd.org/bsdweb.cgi/~checkout~/pkgsrc/audio/lame/Makefile?rev=1.38&content-type=text/plain>. OpenBSD lets the distfile and package be distributed via FTP, but not on CD-ROM: <http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb/~checkout~/ports/audio/lame/Makefile>. The Debian folks have decided not to package LAME, nor any MPEG encoder: <URL:http://www.debian.org/devel/wnpp/unable-to-package>. Mandrake does not package LAME (note its absence from <URL:http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/10.0/features/15.php3>; and warns its users that using the MPEG decoders that it does package may be illegal: Warning: Free Software may not necessarily be patent free, and some Free Software included may be covered by patents in your country. For example, the MP3 decoders included may require a licence for further usage (see http://www.mp3licensing.com for more details). If you are unsure if a patent may be applicable to you, check your local laws. --<URL:http://mirrors-3v.club-internet.fr/pub/linux/Mandrake/9.1/i586/LICENSE.txt>; Red Hat distributes neither encoders nor decoders: <URL:http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1890&page=5>. One may notice that the MP3 encoders are often missing from Linux distributions. The reason is that since 1998, the German research lab that holds the MP3 patent, Fraunhofer, began imposing a fee of $15,000.00 plus $5.00 per encoder and 50 cents per player sold or distributed. [Ref. Wired magazine Sept. 2001, pg 74 article by Pete Rojas] --<URL:http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialMP3.html>; Microsoft refers its users to other vendors for MPEG encoders: <URL:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/windowsxp/buypacks.aspx>. BTW if we were shielded from patent lawsuits we could distribute bzip-compressed packages and save a fair bit of space (see ports/archivers/bzip). -- Trevor Johnson
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