cvs commit: ports/audio/lame Makefile

[Trevor Johnson]

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