...and if not, could it be?
The Help Files in the Audacity (multi-track audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux) state that the "patent" for LAME has expired and that it may now be distributed freely. In the case of Audacity, the LAME encoder is included with the Audacity download so it is possible to convert tracks to MP3 without having to separately download and "install" LAME.
Couldn't MB take the same steps?