… and the world cried! Well maybe just the h.264 camp …
So I thought I’d weigh in on this delicate situation too and give my 2 cents. Some facts:
- h.264 is a standard, not an open standard due it being patent encumbered
- h.264 requires royalties to be paid under certain circumstances unlike VP8 which requires no payments; and just because h.264 may be free now for certain usage, does not mean this will stay the same in future
- Google bundles flash so it’s a hypocrite: no, it allows its inclusion into Chrome via a plugin system – this is a big difference from including this functionality in the core of Chrome
- MPEG-LA, the organisation behind the the patent pool of h.264 technologies, is run by a known patent troll and is already suing others on this topic
- most hardware players support h.264 while few support WebM/VP8: so? why don’t the manufacturers just start supporting VP8 ( for free ) and divest themselves of the h.264 tax?
The posturing from the h.264 camp seems like another battle of trying to hang on to profits – that’s all these companies are interested in. Certainly not their customers. Open Standards are anethema to them – something that in their mind, will take away their monopolies and reduce profits. Brings to mind industry bodies like RIAA and MPAA that have been suing their customers for years – what a way to treat your income.
It’s time for Corporate Media America to wake up and realise that the world has changed. Fat cats and monopolies are fast fading into the rear-view mirror and openness is what we all want. Why should I pay you, big fat record distie, while the artists themselves have to settle for crumbs? Why should I pay you, patent troll, when you have no business function other than to leech off others?
The Internet is the great leveller, the mechanism of the masses, to provide a world where everyone can be equal. Democracy in action …