[grc] mp3 not dead, but now in public domain; don't worry!

[Jim Giddings]

from: 
https://www.quora.com/What-will-happen-to-all-mp3-files-since-the-mp3-format-is-officially-dead

Roland Frank, Programmer (1979-present)
Answered May 16

I’ve merged some questions that all revolved around the end of mp3 
licensing of Fraunhofer into this.

Nothing will happen to any mp3 file whatsoever.

All that happens is that the patents that Fraunhofer has on the mp3 
format are running out. And all that means is, that Fraunhofer no longer 
can force you to pay it a license fee when you use it. Or in yet other 
words: mp3 is now free to use for anybody!

The reason Fraunhofer declared mp3 dead is NOT because mp3 will no 
longer be usable in the future, no, they want you to move on to another 
format now that it can no longer make money out of mp3. Preferably to to 
AAC. And you can easily guess why: Fraunhofer has patents on that format 
that still run for a view years.

So, don’t fear for your mp3 files. You’ll probably able to use them for 
decades to come.

As for future buying music: I’d recommend you buy it in FLAC format. 
This format is completely lossless compressed - i.e. without any quality 
loss. It’s open source, so it will stay for a LONG time and no single 
person or institution controls it like for example ALAC (more or less a 
FLAC clone by Apple). It costs a little bit more to buy and the files 
are larger, but we no longer live in a time where a 1 GB hard disk was 
considered big…

There are tons of programs out there, that let’s you convert your FLAC 
files into something for the road. I personally am quite impressed by 
the AAC format (Hi Fraunhofer :-) ), but feel free to convert to mp3 or 
ogg or …. if your player doesn’t support AAC. Most programs let you do 
this in one big batch, so setting up the conversion is fast and all you 
need to do then is NOT switch off your computer until all the files are 
converted. I can do that - and I’m sure you can do as well.

And whenever your needs or preferences for file format changes in the 
future you can simply convert your files again.

On 07/20/2017 07:51 AM, Frieda Werden via grc wrote:
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4507098/MP3-format-killed-founders-terminate-licensing.html
>