NON-FREE audio and dvd codecs [Archive]

DimaIL

December 3rd, 2005, 07:16 AM

Hello,
I have some questions to you:
Why are installing NON-FREE audio and dvd codecs in Linux illegal in USA?
What is the difference between both codecs in Windows and in Linux?
Which codecs are illegal(is mp3 one of them?)?
And do you installed them in your OS linux?

Thanks!
Dima

aysiu

December 3rd, 2005, 07:47 AM

Hello,
I have some questions to you:
Why installing NON-FREE audio and dvd codecs in Linux is illegal in USA? Audio ones aren't illegal--just the DVD ones.

What is the difference between both codecs in Windows and in Linux? Nothing. Most Linux distributions don't want to bother with the licensing fees for one or both of the following reasons:

1. They want to keep their costs to a minimum, since they're usually giving the OS away for free.
2. They're committed to free software (i.e., not proprietary software)

If you want Linux with codecs, try Mepis, Linspire, or Blag. Incidentally, vanilla Windows does not come with codecs for DVD playback.

Which codecs and illegal(is mp3 one of them?)?Libdvdcss2, and only in the US, as far as I know.

And do you installed them in your OS linux? See here (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=95718)

You may also want to read https://wiki.ubuntu.com/RestrictedFormats

By the way, "illegal," the way you're using it, is imprecise. There are things that are illegal to use, illegal to install, and illegal to distribute or preinstall. Codecs themselves are not simply "legal" or "illegal." For example, it's not illegal for someone to use codecs for MP3 encoding, but it is illegal for Ubuntu to include that codec with the distribution without paying licensing fees.

It is, however, in the US, illegal to even use libdvdcss2. In most other countries, it's perfectly fine. To be on the safe side, Ubuntu does not include it--knowing that a lot of its users reside in the US.