

Google: Please Don’t Kill Video on the Web - farslan
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2012/02/22/google-please-don-t-kill-video-on-the-web.aspx

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dchest
Summary:

 _For a $1,000 laptop, Motorola is demanding that Microsoft pay a royalty of
$22.50 for its 50 patents on the video standard, called H.264._

Interesting turn of events! So, everyone supporting patent-free codecs was
saying that H.264 is dangerous. H.264 defenders were saying -- "no, you're
okay -- we have reasonable licensing terms". Now, Google purchases the codec,
gives a free patent grant, and then makes sure H.264 is what it is -- a
patent-encumbered standard -- by requesting the allegedly unreasonable license
terms, to push a patent-free codec.

Now imagine that Google will [ab]use this whole licensing thing to push for
other H.264 patent holders to give a free patent grand similar to WebM.

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yardie
_Now, Google purchases the codec, gives a free patent grant, and then makes
sure H.264 is what it is -- a patent-encumbered standard -- by requesting the
allegedly unreasonable license terms, to push a patent-free codec._

I think you are confusing the WebM patents, which are patent free, with the
Motorola patents, which are certainly not. Also, no one says that h264 wasn't
patent encumbered. That's what the MPEG-LA was for, they handle the licensing
which cost all of 20 cents. If I'm reading this correct, Motorola had licensed
their patents under FRAND terms as part of MPEG-LA. Now they are trying to
extract more money from the terms which probably violates all sorts of FRAND
agreements.

2012 will be an expensive year. Good for the lawyers though.

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danmaz74
Uhm... maybe if Microsoft stopped exacting its software patents taxes from
Android manufacturers, this pledge would be more valuable.

~~~
jsight
Exactly... news reports claim that MS wants ~12/$500 Android phone. Based upon
that, I think Motorola's claims are no more unreasonable.

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yardie
Wait, how are the patents that motorola have not licensed under MPEG-LA and
FRAND agreements?

So the new Google is "we don't do evil. We acquire other companies to do the
dirty work for us."

