[MPlayer-dev-eng] FFII software patent demo, politics, KiSS

[D Richard Felker III]

On Wed, Apr 21, 2004 at 03:01:55AM +0200, Enrico Weigelt wrote:
> * Michael Niedermayer <michaelni at gmx.at> [2004-04-20 17:49:03 +0200]:
> 
> <snip>
> > > A question, though, would (possibly patent encumbered) apply to divx.com
> > > codecs? heh...
> > all mpeg4 codecs and variants, no matter if they are called divx or windows 
> > media video are
> 
> btw: if this maillist has an archive, it also infringes some patents ...

No. Patent law (in USA anyway) explicitly allows discussion of the
patented process, publication of documents on the patented process,
etc. That's the whole point of a patent! By having a patent, the
inventor does not have to keep his invention secret, but can instead
contribute the knowledge of how it works to the public without
jeopardizing his monopoly on his invention. Unfortunately this is a
broken system; he shouldn't have a monopoly to begin with. But that
was the intended purpose in US law for creating patents.

Rich