Mono's website is biased because they would not be developing it if they
thought that it had any legal or patent problems.

As far as Microsoft is concerned they only need to allege that Linux
infringes on its IP without actually specifying anything in particular to
maintain their FUD campaign. As they did with Tom Tom they can then drag you
into court and under the threat of facing a long drawn out and expensive
case they can get their way. They do not have to be right. They only have to
put you into a situation where you lose even if you are successful in
proving that you are right. Most publicly traded companies cannot afford a)
the bad publicity b) competing with Microsoft's deep pockets. Most small
players cave in under the mere threat of litigation.

The problem with Mono is that Microsoft is being tight lipped. This is no
accident. They can keep on bullying and threatening without actually having
a case. They have forced a number of companies into signing agreements and
even paying them extortion to not sue. The case against Tom Tom was over the
use of "long file names" over which Microsoft has a patent. At the end of
the day Tom Tom could not afford to go to court and a pay off was simpler.

MP3 is owned by a German company. MP3 player companies pay Fraunhofer to use
the format. MP3 players in Linux should do the same in order to comply with
the law because they use a codec that Fraunhofer developed. Users do not
have to pay because they have purchased an MP3 player from a company that
pays to use the technology. Technically that is not transferable. Because
you are covered with your MP3 player that is not blanket coverage that
applies to your computer.

Ogg on the other hand is an open source format that you can use freely. The
problem is that piracy enabled the Fraunhofer format to grow to the point
where it became the de facto standard and it is hard to find a music player
than can handle ogg vorbis. Most users do not think about licensing, but
developers do. This is why Ubuntu does not install it by default. It is a
proprietary format and the user is accepting responsibility.

I don't think that we are going to get a clear answer on Mono. Mono folks
say it is okay. That does not make it so. Microsoft is playing games with us
and it suits their purpose to keep us on the hook. My position is why bother
when you don't have to be on the hook in the first place. It isn't like we
don't have a choice. If we all avoided Mono we may be able to force
Microsoft's hand and have then take a position or maybe they would just go
away and leave us alone.