As explained in a previous post (Google Chrome Chooses Sides In HTML5 Video) the battle over Internet video formats has Apple and Microsoft choosing .mp4 with the H.265/AAC codec and Mozilla and Google (Firefox and Chrome browsers) choosing Ogg, with Google also pushing its own WebM (VP8 codec) which it claims is patent-free.
The idea behind Mozilla and Google’s refusal to use the H.264 codec is because of the patents that control it. Those patents are owned by a consortium called MPEG LA.
Well, MPEG LA has fired the first shot across the bow of Google by forming a patent pool, requesting submission of patent claims from companies who believe the VP8 infringes on their patents.
MPEG LA essentially claims that ANY codec developed lately HAS to have some type of patent infringement due to the nature of compressing video for Internet streaming.
Since this patent pool is just forming, there’s no telling how long this process will take.
As usual, you and I are stuck in the middle of another standards war, like the ferryman in “The Outlaw Josie Wales” who has to sing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Dixie” with ‘equal enthusiasm’.
Further Reading:
First legal shots fired at Google’s VP8 codec.
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