www/philosophy words-to-avoid.html

[Richard M. Stallman]

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     Richard M. Stallman <rms>       17/09/14 13:50:14

Modified files:
        philosophy     : words-to-avoid.html 

Log message:
        (MP3 player): update since the MP3 patents have expired.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.240&r2=1.241

Patches:
Index: words-to-avoid.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html,v
retrieving revision 1.240
retrieving revision 1.241
diff -u -b -r1.240 -r1.241
--- words-to-avoid.html 1 Aug 2017 04:22:28 -0000       1.240
+++ words-to-avoid.html 14 Sep 2017 17:50:14 -0000      1.241
@@ -889,13 +889,21 @@
 <!-- The MP3 patents will reportedly expire by 2018.  -->
 
 In the late 1990s it became feasible to make portable, solid-state
-digital audio players. Most supported the patented MP3 codec, but not
-all.  Some players support the patent-free audio codecs Ogg Vorbis and
-FLAC, and may not even support MP3-encoded files at all, precisely to
-avoid these patents.  To call such players &ldquo;MP3 players&rdquo;
-is not only confusing, it also privileges the MP3 format that we ought
-to reject.  We suggest the terms &ldquo;digital audio player,&rdquo;
-or simply &ldquo;audio player&rdquo; when that's clear enough.</p>
+digital audio players.  Most players supported the patented MP3 codec,
+and that ts still the case.  Some players also supported the
+patent-free audio codecs Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, and a few couldn't play
+MP3-encoded files at all because their developers needed to protect
+themselves from the patents on MP3 format.</p>
+
+<p>Using the term &ldquo;MP3 players&rdquo; for audio players in
+general has the effect of promoting the MP3 format and discouraging
+the other formats (some of which are technically superior as well).
+Even though the MP3 patents have expired, it is still undesirable to
+do that.
+
+<p>We suggest the term &ldquo;digital audio player,&rdquo; or simply
+&ldquo;audio player&rdquo; when that's clear enough, instead of
+&ldquo;MP3 player.&rdquo;</p>
 
 <!-- GNUN-SORT-NEXT-ITEM -->
 <!-- GNUN-SORT-BEGIN-KEY -->
@@ -1316,7 +1324,7 @@
 
 <p class="unprintable">Updated:
 <!-- timestamp start -->
-$Date: 2017/08/01 04:22:28 $
+$Date: 2017/09/14 17:50:14 $
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>
 </div>