RE: "Open Web Platform" versus "Web Platform" Re: Netflix HTML5 player in IE 11 on Windows 8.1

Andreas Kuckartz wrote:
> 
> 
> 1. Open Source implementations of H.264 are available.

Source? Please document this assertion.


> 
> 2. WebM exists as an alternative to H.264 which is not
> patent-encumbered. I am aware that a very close Microsoft partner
> states
> the opposite.

More than one entity has expressed concerns that WebM might be subject to a
submarine patent. This is/was also the case with Ogg Theora.
(http://web5.me/2011/02/a-better-analysis-of-webms-strengths-and-weaknesses/
) 

Also, as a point of clarification, WebM is "Royalty Free" but still contains
patented technologies that Google has purchased and 'offered' to the web
under a BSD license. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebM) 

None-the-less, WebM has, as part of it's "DNA" patented technologies.
(http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/03/08/google_mpegla_webm_patent_license/)


Finally, on the topic of mixing Open Source and closed source technologies
on the Web Platform, Brendan Eich fairly summed it up here:

	"What I do know for certain is this: H.264 is absolutely required
right now to compete on mobile. I do not believe that we can reject H.264
content in Firefox on Android or in B2G and survive the shift to mobile.

	Losing a battle is a bitter experience. I won't sugar-coat this
pill. But we must swallow it if we are to succeed in our mobile initiatives.
Failure on mobile is too likely to consign Mozilla to decline and
irrelevance. So I am fully in favor of Andreas's proposal. (use OS- and
hardware-based H.264 decoding capabilities on Android and B2G.)" -
https://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/03/video-mobile-and-the-open-web/ 

(I wonder aloud if Mozilla/Firefox will take a similar stance with EME,
given that the EME API will allow them to DO JUST THAT... offload the CDM
bit to the hardware/OS)


> 
> In other words: the situation regarding video codecs can not reasonably
> be used to promote EME.

In other words, the interpretation of what is "Open" is a lot fuzzier than
**MUST BE GPLv3**, and what is happening in practice is a lot less "pure"
than some might wish.

JF

Received on Friday, 28 June 2013 16:48:15 UTC