- From: Asbjørn Ulsberg <asbjorn@ulsberg.no>
- Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:48:29 +0100
- To: Håkon Wium Lie <howcome@opera.com>, "Robert Brodrecht" <w3c@robertdot.org>
- Cc: public-html@w3.org, whatwg@whatwg.org
On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:03:43 +0100, Håkon Wium Lie <howcome@opera.com> wrote: > Due to software patents, MPEG 4 costs money. I actually know nothing about MPEG4's license, and even if I had it printed out on my desk, I wouldn't probably understand enough of it to make any assumptions or conclusions. As I'm no lawyer, I thus have to ask: How much does it cost and for whom? Would both authors and browser vendors have to pay someone something to use MPEG-4, or is it a royalty-free license of sorts, or what? I think this is very interesting even if I'm not equipped with the lawyery competence required to understand the issues myself. > Also, it requires more processing power than many devices have. I believe most video card vendors are working on getting MPEG4 decoding support in their products. Isn't that correct? > Who will pay for licenses to OLPC's machines? Good point. It depends on the license, I guess. Does it really cost money for everyone to use, no matter how it's used? > And, how will the get the power to decode? It has to be supported in hardware somehow. I also think it's a lot more likely to get hardware decoding support for MPEG4 than it is to get it for Theora. MPEG4 hardware decoders exists already, but I don't know of any Theora decoders. Do you? > I think it's vital that we find an open format that the free world can > use. MPEG-4 is open per se, but it's not free (as in beer). It's an international standard that unfortunately costs money to implement. Who it costs money for, why, and how much is a very interesting question I'd like to be answered somehow. If nobody on this list has the answer, I'll try to get them from my friends in NRK who are a bit more updated than me on the subject. > If MPEG4 is the alternative, we might as well continue using Flash and > <object>. But it's not a world I want to live in. Do you really think MPEG4 is that bad? It's at least not proprietary and one-vendor-controlled the way Flash is. That has to count for something, no? -- Asbjørn Ulsberg -=|=- http://virtuelvis.com/quark/ «He's a loathsome offensive brute, yet I can't look away»
Received on Wednesday, 21 March 2007 11:47:54 UTC