This American Life's recent episode "When Patents Attack!" brought much new awareness to the problems that software patents and patent trolls create. So it's ironic that the show is only available in the patent-encumbered MP3 format. Sign the petition asking them to help be part of the solution by using Ogg Vorbis!

One thing I should state immediately is that I think that Ogg Vorbis is great: it's cool technology doing all the right things in the right way. So my doubts about this campaign have nothing to do with any weaknesses in Ogg. It's just that I wonder whether this is really something the free software world should be expending much energy on when there are other more pressing problems.

"...'Ogg' is a wrapper that ties together 'Theora' encoded video and 'Vorbis' encoded sound. Together, Ogg Theora+Vorbis give users a way to see movies on your computer. Ogg Vorbis+Theora are not known to be encumbered by any patents (the only applicable patent on Theora’s predecessor, called 'VP3', was licensed for everyone to use in any way they want).

“What is Ogg?!” I hear you cry.

On the White House's official website for petitioning the government, there is a petition to return sanity to the US software industry by overturning software patents.

Over the past month I have made it my goal to stop using the proprietary MP3 format for audio in favor of the free, open standard Ogg Vorbis format.

"Berlin, 12 December 2008 - Backed by the FFII and other organisations, software developers launch a petition in 28 languages to stop software patents and protect European innovators. The petition asks for legislative clarifications to clear out the legal uncertainty and imbalances created by software patents..."

As some of you may know, Ubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" will come with an integrated music store, which offers mostly MP3's and SOME FLAC files. This petition would make both Canonical and 7Digital consider offering Ogg Vorbis for all of 7Digital's collection as an option for the end user.

Congratulations to NPR Wbur for supporting Ogg :) -- via http://www.fsf.org/news/wbur-streams-ogg-vorbis