2011-08-01

12 Trolls Doesn't Make A Party - Come And Lose Your Patents

Interesting. The call from the MPEG-LA to all companies holding possible patents against Google's free and open WebM video standard, have been heard. 12 mateys entering the boat and might sink with it. Of course, the names will kept from public. Well unless they step into the ring officially. The FSF already called out for a boycott of the MPEG LA supporters.

The latest patent lawsuit from Oracle shows how fast you can lose the same patents you're claiming against someone. Over 40 patents are marked as invalid. That means, all the other, smaller companies, can now use them without fear. Before that they had to pay, if they wanted to get away without a big lawsuit.
So I'll guess that's exactly what Google is saying. Bring them on, and lose them. I have no doubt that this will be a tough fight with some losses on both sites. But in the end, I hope for freedom and justice, that there must be a way left to have an open video standard, and not a big monopoly with questionable behavior.

Check the full article of the Streaming Media Magazine to learn more.

WebM Patent Fight Ahead for Google? - Streaming Media Magazine: "In February, MPEG LA announced a call for patents essential to the VP8 video codec specification as outlined in Google’s WebM release. The press release announcing the call asked for submissions by March 18, so I thought I would check in with a spokesperson at MPEG-LA to see if there was any activity.

I learned that there had been plenty. Twelve parties have stepped forward with patents that they believe are essential to the VP8 standard, on which Google's WebM is based, though no patent pool has been formed yet and MPEG LA is not releasing the patentholders' names at this time."