受歐洲委員會通過的一項軟件專利法令的影響,Mplayer被控侵犯了若干項軟件專利,並於近日停止了其主頁的Mplayer媒體播放器軟件下載服務,目前,網站本身還在正常運轉: http://www.mplayerhq.hu/homepage/index.html 以下是官方的通知: Closed for patent infringement This site has been shut down because of numerous patent violations in MPlayer. The other free software multimedia players are next. Multimedia is a patent minefield. All important techniques and formats are covered by broad and trivial patents that are harming progress and alternative implementations, such as free software multimedia players. The European commission has just passed its directive on software patents, violating democratic rules and procedures to the sole benefit of big non-European corporation and Ireland and to the detriment of small and medium sized businesses (which comprise 99% of the European software industry) and free software. The European parliament will now be taking the last stand against software patents in a voting for which an absolute majority is needed. Such a majority is hard to come by in a parliament with a low attendance level. But not all is lost yet as long as you decide it is time to make a difference and take action. This is our last opportunity to fend off software patents worldwide, there will be no second chance for the foreseeable future. Signing petitions will not suffice. Contact your local EU representatives and educate them why software patents are a bad idea in the first place and why they must attend that parliament session to vote against them. Make it clear that they need to stop the machinations of the EU council and reaffirm the power of the EU parliament, the only democratically elected EU institution. For in-depth information and starting points to get active visit the software patent page of the FFII (Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure) and NoSoftwarePatents.com. Wish us luck, we will need it.
