One of my big problems with file format patents is that historically they've been abused and used to place artificial restrictions on the user. There should be

One of my big problems with file format patents is that historically they've been abused and used to place artificial restrictions on the user. There should be playback and encoding exceptions for personal non-commercial use, or at the give the user an option to export / convert their media into a standard format. Have people forgotten the terrible user experience with media file formats in the 90s and 00s? You had to download a bunch of codecs and fiddle around with different programs in order to watch a video. The details on this point are a bit fuzzy, but I also remember having to needlessly jump through hoops in order to encode some audio files for my MP3 player. Fast-forward to the current year: now I can use ffmpeg for conversions and either mpv or VLC for playback, providing a vastly superior user experience. This is only possible because the developers of these tools have opted to completely disregard software patents.