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Flash embraces Google's open video codec
,----[ Quote ]
| Adobe has rolled out an HTML5 development
| kit and announced that Flash will use
| Google's freshly open sourced VP8 video
| codec. The company wants you to know that
| despite its tussle with Steve Jobs, it
| very much believes in web standards.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/19/adobe_html5_pack/
When Google is good ask why
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/when-google-is-good-ask-why/6538
Free Software Foundation statement on WebM and VP8
http://www.fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-statement-on-webm-and-vp8
Infrastructures, by xkcd - It says it all
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20100521100651738
Google open video codec may face patent clash
,----[ Quote ]
| Asked it the MPEG-LA was creating a
| patent pool license for VP8 and WebM, a
| larger open source media standard that
| includes VP8, Horn said:
|
| "Yes. In view of the marketplace
| uncertainties regarding patent
| licensing needs for such
| technologies, there have been
| expressions of interest from the
| market urging us to facilitate
| formation of licenses that would
| address the marketâs need for a
| convenient one-stop marketplace
| alternative to negotiating separate
| licenses with individual patent
| holders in accessing essential patent
| rights for VP8 as well as other
| codecs, and we are looking into the
| prospects of doing so."
|
| An MPEG-LA spokesperson confirmed the
| comments in an email to The Reg.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/21/mpegla_mulls_patent_license_for_webm/
Report: MPEG LA planning patent pool for VP8
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Report-MPEG-LA-planning-patent-pool-for-VP8-1005252.html
WebM applauded but doubts persist
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/WebM-applauded-but-doubts-persist-1003849.html
Google's WebM Draws Praise, Critiques
http://www.pcworld.com/article/196791/googles_webm_draws_praise_critiques.html
Google's new Android is divine, GoogleTV no sure thing
,----[ Quote ]
| WebM will make the hippies among the
| free-software movement (âsoftware patents
| are like Nanking Massacre, only obviously
| far worseâ) happy. Itâll allow developers
| to create free and open-source streaming
| apps and technologies without worrying
| about the licensing expense; one can only
| hope that Google has also ensured that
| there won't be any risk that a patent
| shark might come along and sue the
| developers at a future date, but only
| time will tell. Otherwise, WebM a non-
| entity.
`----
http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko/2299960,ihnatko-google-io-tv-android-052110.article
Oh myâ the hypocrisy around WebM / VP8
,----[ Quote ]
| For years we were told by Mozilla and the
| like that they wonât ship MPEG codecs,
| because they are patented. At the same
| time they refuse to support the patent-
| free but high-quality Dirac codec
| (developed by the BBC using techniques
| whose patents expired â Xiph used the
| same method when designing Vorbis).
|
| Then one day Google shows up and releases
| the sources to a codec thatâs merely a
| derivate of the patented MPEG-4 AVC
| Baseline codec. Suddenly all hell breaks
| loose, Mozilla immediately supports the
| new (possibly patented) codec.
|
| [...]
|
| I suspect that since Mozilla (and Opera
| as well) gets many million dollars per
| year from Google for being the default
| search provider, questions about WebM are
| not asked. I think Mozilla mainly wants
| to please its pimp to get the money.
|
| Luckily KDE is not part of the discussion
| (I merely state my opinion as an
| individual). Konqueror simply uses Phonon
| to play back HTML5 videos, hence the
| video can be in whatever format as long
| as a compatible Phonon back-end is used â
| WebM, Dirac, AVC,â
`----
http://kamikazow.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/oh-my-the-hypocrisy-around-webm-vp8/
WebM VP8 Video Codec Won't End Theora
,----[ Quote ]
| At Google's I/O conference, the search
| giant this week released the VP8 video
| codec as open source and launched the
| WebM project for online video. The effort
| has already been embraced by multiple
| browser vendors.
`----
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/video/article.php/3883451
WebM
,----[ Quote ]
| I wonder whether Hollywood will see it is
| in their best interests to use an open
| format for video? If not, Youtube may
| pass them by. Youtube is already the
| largest source of video on the planet.
| Who needs Hollywood if they do not want
| to be open with us? According to
| Wikipedia, âIt is estimated that 24 hours
| of new videos are uploaded to the site
| every minute, and that around three
| quarters of the material comes from
| outside the United States.â
`----
http://pogson.6k.ca/2010/05/20/webm/
Is Google's WebM a game-changer or a big mess?
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/is-googles-webm-a-game-changer-or-a-big-mess/2129
Googleâs âRoyalty-Freeâ WebM Video May Not Be Royalty-Free For Long
,----[ Quote ]
| The announcement of Googleâs new WebM
| video format and release of the VP8 video
| codec as an open standard have been
| hailed by some as the move that will free
| the Web from the proprietary H.264 codec
| widely used for online video today and
| favored by Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft
| (MSFT).
|
| [...]
|
| Indeed, Larry Horn, CEO of MPEG LA, the
| consortium that controls the AVC/H.264
| video standard, tells me that the group
| is already looking at creating a patent
| pool license for VP8. Hereâs an excerpt
| from my email exchange with him:
|
| JP: Let me ask you this: Are you
| creating a patent pool license for
| VP8 and WebM? Have you been
| approached about creating one?
|
| Larry Horn: Yes, in view of the
| marketplace uncertainties regarding
| patent licensing needs for such
| technologies, there have been
| expressions of interest from the
| market urging us to facilitate
| formation of licenses that would
| address the marketâs need for a
| convenient one-stop marketplace
| alternative to negotiating separate
| licenses with individual patent
| holders in accessing essential patent
| rights for VP8 as well as other
| codecs, and we are looking into the
| prospects of doing so.
`----
http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20100520/googles-royalty-free-webm-video-may-not-be-royalty-free-for-long/
Linux Distros and the Codec Conundrum
,----[ Quote ]
| Codecs have been the topic of much heated
| conversation on the Linux blogs of late,
| thanks largely to all the recent
| controversy surrounding H.264.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/70035.html?wlc=1274437690
Steve Jobs email dismisses VP8 video codec
,----[ Quote ]
| Apple boss Steve Jobs has dismissed
| Google's much-trumpeted open source video
| codec by referring to a technical
| analysis written by a third-year college
| student.
|
| According to Apple Insider, the
| Messaianic chief Macolyte was asked what
| he thought of the VP8 WebM video in an
| email, to which Steve simply replied with
| a link to a posting on Jason Garret-
| Glaser's Diary Of An x264 Developer blog.
|
| From what we can tell, what Jason (aka
| Dark Shikari) doesn't know about video
| decoding probably isn't worth knowing,
| and he pretty roundly castigates the VP8
| code for being poorly doucumented, badly
| written, slow and buggy. He also
| questions whether the codec is really
| open source and suggests that the patent
| trolls are currently waiting to pounce as
| soon as the standard gets a foothold.
| "VP8 copies way too much from H.264 for
| anyone sane to be comfortable with it, no
| matter whose word is behind the claim of
| being patent-free," said Glaser.
`----
http://www.thinq.co.uk/news/2010/5/21/steve-jobs-email-dismisses-vp8-video-codec/
Recent:
Growth Market in Theora FUD
,----[ Quote ]
| A blogger named Hugo Roy posted a piece
| called An Open Letter to Steve Jobs in
| which he picked on Steve a bit about the
| openness of H.264. A few valid points were
| made, but most interestingly, Hugo then
| posted an email response he says came from
| Steve himself, which included the following
| inflammatory quote:
|
| A patent pool is being assembled to go
| after Theora and other âopen sourceâ
| codecs now. Unfortunately, just because
| something is open source, it doesnât
| mean or guarantee that it doesnât
| infringe on others patents.
|
| If this is true, it is bad news for Theora
| indeed. Can the Mozilla foundation afford
| to hang a giant "Kick Me" sign on the next
| version of Firefox? Can they afford to
| litigate against even a single patent
| lawsuit, much less this consortium Steve is
| quoted as knowing of?
`----
http://www.drdobbs.com/blog/archives/2010/05/growth_market_i.html;jsessionid=FDOGHWWIL331FQE1GHPCKHWATMY32JVN
Microsoft defends its move to H.264
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1604070/microsoft-defends-h-264
Canonical licenses H.264 â Theora out for the count? [Updated]
,----[ Quote ]
| Canonical are currently the only Linux
| company to license H.264/AVC, the patented
| non-free technology used to compress video
| and favoured by companies such as Apple &
| Microsoft for HTML5 Video.
|
| Neither RedHat, makers of Fedora, or
| Novell, makers of Suse, appear on the list
| of over 800 licensee's.
|
| Whatâs interesting is that the rival, if
| you will, to H.264 is the free and open
| codec Ogg Theroa which one would naturally
| assume would be the favoured choice for a
| Linux distributionâs parent to support.
`----
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2010/05/canonical-licenses-h264.html
Why Is MPEG-LA Getting Into The Patent Trolling Game?
,----[ Quote ]
| Joe Mullin has a great blog post, looking
| in detail at MobileMedia, a recently
| launched "company" that fits all the
| traditional characteristics of a "patent
| troll" or "non-practicing entity" (if you'd
| prefer). It doesn't appear to do anything
| but hold patents, demand licensing fees and
| sue. So what's so interesting about this
| one? Well, it's a subsidiary of MPEG-LA,
| the company that manages some important
| digital video standards, and manages the
| patent pools related to them -- and both
| companies have the same CEO.
|
| [...]
|
| What I find interesting, of course, is that
| many patent system folks have said that
| patent pools are the "answer" to issues
| like non-practicing entities filing crazy
| lawsuits. And yet, here we have an example
| of one of the major patent pooling
| administrators apparently deciding it's
| more lucrative to get into the other side
| of the business instead...
|
| In the meantime, while all this has been
| going on, it's worth noting that Steve Jobs
| -- one of the targets in this lawsuit --
| has apparently been telling people that
| MPEG-LA is getting ready to sue open video
| codecs, such as Theora, for patent
| infringement. Of course, such threats have
| been made before and never carried out --
| but if MPEG-LA now thinks that suing for
| patent infringement (rather than just
| alerting the patent holders to possible
| infringement) is the way to go these days,
| perhaps the lawsuits above were an opening
| salvo.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20100430/0232599255.shtml
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