http://flac.sourceforge.net/

When we say that FLAC is "Free" it means more than just that it is available at no cost. It means that the specification of the format is fully open to the public to be used for any purpose (the FLAC project reserves the right to set the FLAC specification and certify compliance), and that neither the FLAC format nor any of the implemented encoding/decoding methods are covered by any known patent. It also means that all the source code is available under open-source licenses. It is the first truly open and free lossless audio format. (For more information, see the license page.)

I take you know what Sourceforge is as well. Why on earth anyone needs to invent a closed standard, aka"ALAC" when this is there, is beyond me.

Further questions? Until then, my music will stay in FLAC. With good reason.