[huml] More on MPEG-4

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Hi Everyone,

As if I needed more disincentive, here is the latest on the MPEG-4 front.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-975316.html

Excerpt: "A consortium of companies holding patents attached to the 
MPEG-4 multimedia standard released its license for the technology, 
raising hopes for widespread adoption.

The license released Monday is essentially the same as one proposed 
by the consortium, MPEG LA, in July. That proposed license set a cap 
of $1 million per licensee, as well as a threshold that exempts 
MPEG-4 users with fewer than 50,000 implementations from royalty 
payments."

Anyone who thinks these limits are realistic for widespread adoption 
will soon find out, as will I, if I am wrong and it achieves 
widespread adoption. The real problem is that almost any video codec 
and most audio codecs have areas overlapped by this unprintable 
unprintable collection of patents, and I suspect that the real 
challenge will come from the military who I hope decides to fund 
research into and adoption of an unencumbered technology, with 
sufficient lawyers to make it stick.

Ciao,
Rex
-- 
Rex Brooks
Starbourne Communications Design
1361-A Addison, Berkeley, CA 94702 *510-849-2309
http://www.starbourne.com * rexb@starbourne.com