If you ever wondered why MP3 streams are largely only used on non-profit stations, there is a reason.<\/p>\n
The most onorous patent was owned by a German company. They were not a “patent troll” – they actually did the research and engineering to create MP3. The ugly part was they wanted stations using MP3 streams to pay a royalty based on a percentage of income, giving the patent holder a right to perform an audit of the station’s financial records.<\/p>\n
The good news is that patent expired in 2007, but there were a flurry of “me too!” Nonsense patents filed by patent trolls. The good news is those are also expiring.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.tunequest.org\/a-big-list-of-mp3-patents\/20070226\/<\/a><\/p>\n To create more confusion, the streaming link ending in .m3u or .pls does not mean the stream being played is actually MP3 – it can also be AAC, AAC+ Or even Windows Media Player (if the webmaster is clueless)<\/p>\n Time to see when the HDRadio patents run out – the FCC approved the technology in 2002 – patents are valid for at most 17 years from the grant or 20 years from filing. IANAL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you ever wondered why MP3 streams are largely only used on non-profit stations, there is a reason. The most onorous patent was owned by a German company. They were not a “patent troll” – they actually did the research … Continue reading