On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 01:49:17PM -0300, Humberto Massa Guimarães wrote: > > ** Diego Biurrun :: > > > Maybe it's time to create some sort of patent/ftp/XXX policy then. > > The core of this thread revolves around the problem that Debian's > > stance towards patents is unclear and inconsistent. Some programs > > are jugded impossible to package due to patent problems, while > > others aren't. This is further complicated by the fact that some > > MP3 encoders and multimedia applications are packaged while others > > are not, even though they do the same things and thus fall under > > the scope of the same patents. > > I was under the impression that Debian *did* have a policy: if the > patent is enforced, towards it, then the software will go to non_US > -- to the benefit of the sane jurisdictions (as is the EU, in > principle).
And to what extent is that policy followed? Neither libdts nor the many multimedia players available in Debian appear to be in non-US. How can I get an overview of all the packages in non-US? Looking on Debian mirrors just reveals empty packages files: http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/dists/sarge/non-US/main/binary-i386/Packages ftp://sunsite.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/Linux/debian-non-US/dists/sarge/non-US/main/binary-i386/Packages > > VideoLAN is hosted by ECP, a university from Paris where the > > project originated. DTS Inc. sent ECP a cease and desist letter > > stating that they should stop developing libdts, get a patent > > license from them or prepare to get sued. The ECP lawyer tried to > > settle amicably without success. DTS requested fees amounting to > > thousands of dollars per day and the university did not want to go > > to court. That was more than one year ago and libdts is no longer > > distributed on its own and has been removed from VLC. Furthermore > > development on the library has stopped. > > > > That's as good a precedent for patent enforcement as you'll get. > > FUD at its best, but it worked. This is how the patent scare > > works. > > Not down here, thanks God and our corrupt lawmakers. Seriously. > Software patents are just plain Evil. Yes, I wholeheartedly agree, all of them without exception. *sigh* Diego -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
