As for non-discriminatory: I believe the MPEG-LA patent-holders are free to make side deals that bypass the supposedly non-discriminatory licensing fees. So if

As for non-discriminatory: I believe the MPEG-LA patent-holders are free to make side deals that bypass the supposedly non-discriminatory licensing fees. So if you are a major patent holder, you can in theory go to each of the other patent holders and negotiate 'cross-licensing' of your patents, agreeing to charge each other nothing for using each other's licenses. So MPEG in this light can be seen as a collusive monopolistic oligarchy, where if you're in the club you get something for free that everyone else has to pay for. Not very competitive. A bit of history: early on, On2 made a stink about the monopolistic nature of MPEG-LA: http://www.cedmagazine.com/Article.aspx?id=63386&LangType=1033 http://www.cedmagazine.com/Article.aspx?id=63386&LangTyp...