[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] Dynamic plugins loading

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

On Sat, Nov 06, 2010 at 11:37:35AM +0200, Felipe Contreras wrote :
> H.264 is _clearly_ owned by MPEG LA who claims to have the patents. You
> distribute FFmpeg as-is without paying them, you risk being sued by
> them.

> Menus, double-click, etc. _might_ be owned by patents, but it's not
> clear who, if any, would sue Fedora, and if the patent would be valid.
> Besides, legally speaking it's better to not know you are violating a
> patent, than knowingly do that, which wouldn't fly for H.264.

_clearly_ vs _might_... Seriously?
So who decides when it is clear and when it is not? People from Fedora?
This is beyond ridiculous.

The only people that can actually says that are judges...
And guess what, the latest biggest patents failures are about things
as simple as xml...

Not to mention that, the more complex a patent is, the easiest it is to
avoid. The best way to fight a patent is not to run away and scream but
to do something slightly different, but different enough to avoid the
main claim.


-- 
Jean-Baptiste Kempf
http://www.jbkempf.com/
+33 672 704 734