An audio compression CODEC, comparable to other formats used to store and play digital music, such as MP3 or AAC. Except, of course, the creators of Ogg Vorbis claim it to be superior. The Ogg files do have the potential to support multichannel audio (not just mono or stereo). It is different from the other formats because it is open source and unpatented. This is similar to the development path of the Linux OS in that any programmer in the world with the ability to compile code can experiment with and improve upon the Ogg source; on one hand it’s an excellent way to work out the bugs and find out the abilities and limitations of the format, however, on the other hand it can lead to a complex developmental web consisting of many offshoots and variations of the base technology. Vorbis is the name for the specific audio compression scheme used to create Ogg Vorbis files. It is part of the Ogg project, which is designed to create a fully open multimedia system (integrating audio and video, similar to the goals of the MP4 project, and others). Vorbis files have the extension .ogg. One of the immediate challenges to Ogg Vorbis is how they will address intellectual property protection. The future of streaming media and the rights of intellectual property owners will be inexorably linked… the “next MP3″ will most certainly have to be developed with this taken into consideration.