3 ms·

Not being at another company's mercy seems like reason enough to me. Right now Google is a company that's sunk hundreds of millions into Android and it's all a

Not being at another company's mercy seems like reason enough to me. Right now Google is a company that's sunk hundreds of millions into Android and it's all at risk because Oracle bought Sun. I'd imagine that wake up call made them look at other vulnerabilities in their product line.

macrael 16y ago
But what company are they at the mercy of for online video? The whole point of the open standard that is H264 is for a group of companies not to be at each other's mercy. It seems riskier to switch to a new format created by one company than to go with the standard everyone else backs. I think there must be another answer.
- TomOfTTB 16y ago
  MPEG LA can still change the terms whenever they please and theor recent behavior has been troubling (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100430/0232599255.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100430/0232599255.shtml)
  - danbmil99 16y ago
    This. Look who are major patent holders at MPEG-LA: Microsoft and Apple. Do you trust your blood enemies to a gentleman's agreement? MPEG-LA has been decidedly vague and "don't worry, be happy" about their long-term royalty plans. One might assume they would never increase the price, but can you be sure? In fact, MS and Apple could even pull out of MPEG-LA at some point and charge exorbitant fees. Google simply does not want to be at any risk for that sort of FUD in the marketplace. I think that, combined with their ideological DNA (Patents BAAD, open source GOOOD) explains the decision pretty well.
    - thomasz 16y ago
      > This. Look who are major patent holders at MPEG-LA: Microsoft and Apple. Do you have a source for that? I've read quite a few times that at least Microsoft pays more for licenses than they get back.
      - danbmil99 16y ago
        http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avc-att1.pdf http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avc-att1.p... Microsoft: US patents: US 6,563,953 US 6,735,345 US 7,289,673 and a number of foreign filings, likely of the same IP. Apple: US 7,292,636 US 7,548,584 US 7,551,674 US 7,339,991 doesn't matter if they pay in, the point is they are patent holders, and have a say in licensing terms.
- vegai 16y ago
  Perhaps they have an idea on their hands that they project will make them craploads of money. Google TV might be one such product. Perhaps they project that H264 might want a share of that money anyhow it can, so they decided to cut it off right away.

macrael 16y ago

But what company are they at the mercy of for online video? The whole point of the open standard that is H264 is for a group of companies not to be at each other's mercy. It seems riskier to switch to a new format created by one company than to go with the standard everyone else backs. I think there must be another answer.

TomOfTTB 16y ago
MPEG LA can still change the terms whenever they please and theor recent behavior has been troubling (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100430/0232599255.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100430/0232599255.shtml)
- danbmil99 16y ago
  This. Look who are major patent holders at MPEG-LA: Microsoft and Apple. Do you trust your blood enemies to a gentleman's agreement? MPEG-LA has been decidedly vague and "don't worry, be happy" about their long-term royalty plans. One might assume they would never increase the price, but can you be sure? In fact, MS and Apple could even pull out of MPEG-LA at some point and charge exorbitant fees. Google simply does not want to be at any risk for that sort of FUD in the marketplace. I think that, combined with their ideological DNA (Patents BAAD, open source GOOOD) explains the decision pretty well.
  - thomasz 16y ago
    > This. Look who are major patent holders at MPEG-LA: Microsoft and Apple. Do you have a source for that? I've read quite a few times that at least Microsoft pays more for licenses than they get back.
    - danbmil99 16y ago
      http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avc-att1.pdf http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/avc/Documents/avc-att1.p... Microsoft: US patents: US 6,563,953 US 6,735,345 US 7,289,673 and a number of foreign filings, likely of the same IP. Apple: US 7,292,636 US 7,548,584 US 7,551,674 US 7,339,991 doesn't matter if they pay in, the point is they are patent holders, and have a say in licensing terms.
vegai 16y ago
Perhaps they have an idea on their hands that they project will make them craploads of money. Google TV might be one such product. Perhaps they project that H264 might want a share of that money anyhow it can, so they decided to cut it off right away.