I'm pretty sure you'd be talking to CL's legal department within a few minutes. ;)

Well, we might be talking... but I wouldn't be saying what they want to hear.

And, yes, every company out there that sells .mp3 players pays a licensing fee.

You might pay a fee to slap a official logo on it, or to use an algorithm... but that is radically different than having to pay for a file format. A subtle point perhaps but since I write code for some of my living and did it for many years one that was crucial to me several times.

Formats are simply not subject to license. Algorithms are.