On 2/1/13 12:10 PM, Michael Dale wrote:

The software patent situation for mp3 is sad, considering how long the mp3 format has been around:

http://www.tunequest.org/a-big-list-of-mp3-patents/20070226/

[...]

But fundamentally Wikimedia is not "distributing" these encoders and there are no royalties for media distribution. Likewise we are not shipping decoders (the decoders are in browser or the mobile OS )

The USPTO is holding a comment period and a couple meetings on software patents. The meetings are both 9am – noon local time. Both require an RSVP by email by this Monday the 4th.

Stanford ("Silicon Valley") is Tuesday 2013-02-12 Stanford University Paul Brest Hall 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford, CA

NYC ("New York City") is Wednesday 2013-02-27 New York University Henry Kaufman Management Center Faculty Lounge Room 11-185 44 West 4th St. New York, NY 10012

http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=20130104012214868

-Jeremy