[luau] News - No more JPEGs - ISO to withdraw image standard

[Warren Togami]

http://www.theregus.com/content/4/25711.html

The ISO standards body will take the unprecedented step of withdrawing the
JPEG image format as a formal standard if Forgent Networks, a small Texan
company, continues to demand royalties on a seventeen-year old patent.

The Register has spoken to representatives of both the JPEG committee and
Forgent Networks this week.

According to Richard Clark, JPEG committee member and JPEG.org webmaster,
Forgent's royalty grab - coming after two decades of royalty-free use -
means that ISO is obliged to withdraw the specification.

"Under ISO terms, formally you can only have a standard you can implement on
free or RAND terms. "Reasonable and non discriminatory (RAND) terms are
typically published, and the same for everyone. It's clear that Forgent's
claims are not RAND. $15 million doesn't sound like free to me, and Forgent
is not publishing the terms of their licensing.

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