"Thanks to Fluendo, Linux and Solaris users on a variety of processor architectures can now purchase playback support for patent-encumbered audio and video formats. Similar support from free alternatives, whether they rely on copying Windows DLLs or use original code, all violate existing patent law. The mere existence of Fluendo's plugins needles a bevy of critics, but Fluendo is prepared to answer them all. And in an ironic twist, sales of these decoders for non-free formats are funding the development of free alternatives.
"The Fluendo Web Shop, launched earlier this month, offers playback components for the MP3, Dolby AC3, and Windows Media Audio (WMA) audio formats; the MPEG2, MPEG4 Part 2 (better known as DivX), and Windows Media Video (WMV) video formats; the Windows Media streaming protocol (MMS); and the various container formats associated with each..."
