software patent hell: .ogg is doomed?

[urlwolf]

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/insideit/story/0,,2060078,00.html

Ogg still carries potential risks, because there is no guarantee that it doesn't infringe someone's patents.

The recent MP3 lawsuit illustrates the problem. Microsoft thought it was safe because, like Apple and others, it had licensed MP3 from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. Along came Alcatel-Lucent, the telecoms equipment giant, with some patent claims, and Microsoft was fined $1.52bn (£758m) by a US court.

Well, Alcatel-Lucent didn't actually sue Microsoft, it sued Dell and Gateway. Microsoft stepped in because the infringing software was part of Windows. If a device manufacturer is sued over Ogg, who is going take on the burden of fighting the case and paying any fines? A handful of open source hackers?

I hope ogg gets some dev. love. I have encoded most of my collection in ogg -q6.

[f0dder]

Bothersome.

Imho patents aren't a bad idea, and not for software either - but they're too long-lived, too generic, and some companies are just way too greedy.