Since software is not patentable in the EU [1], I assume programmers and software companies in the EU can safely ignore this patent pool?
[1] The European Patent Convention [..] excludes from patentability [..] programs for computers [as such]. If a program running on a generic, off-the-shelf computer, with no special hardware, is not excluded, then those words are wholly without meaning - "programs for computers" could be deleted from the text of the law, and its meaning would not change. Given that it was surely not the intention of the legislators to include meaningless text in the law, the only remotely reasonable conclusion is that software, and these codecs, are not patentable in the EU. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_the_Eur...
[1] The European Patent Convention [..] excludes from patentability [..] programs for computers [as such]. If a program running on a generic, off-the-shelf computer, with no special hardware, is not excluded, then those words are wholly without meaning - "programs for computers" could be deleted from the text of the law, and its meaning would not change. Given that it was surely not the intention of the legislators to include meaningless text in the law, the only remotely reasonable conclusion is that software, and these codecs, are not patentable in the EU. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_the_Eur...