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Hear hear. (Disclaimer: I am founder of On2, bought by Google, ancestor of AV1) I have zero pity for Roku and the rest of the video streaming cartel. For years
by danbmil99 5y ago
Hear hear. (Disclaimer: I am founder of On2, bought by Google, ancestor of AV1)
I have zero pity for Roku and the rest of the video streaming cartel. For years (decades in fact) these companies colluded to shove down everyone's throat an expensive, unwieldy, made-by-committee 1-size-fits-all technology (MPEG), with a get-out-of-court rule from the Justice dept not to target them with price fixing.
That a small company like On2 was able to survive, much less eventually get acquired by Google (who have dutifully kept the VP* and AV1 codecs open-source) is really quite a miracle.
There is depth to this story that has never been plumbed.
- danbmil99 5y agoCurious about the downvotes. AV1 is a true Free and Open Source technology,, with additional protection against patent trolls. Surely HN readers would prefer a world where this sort of solution at least co-exists (if not preempts) proprietary tech created by+for the benefit of a few large companies who protect it via a cartel of dubious patents. What is better for tech startups who don't have a legacy patent to bargain with the patent pool barons? (MPEG-LA) What is better for artists -- musicians, independent film makers, content creators in general -- a world where the popular devices fully support FOSS protocols, or a world where a few large media companies make back-room deals with tech giants (or just consolidate tech+content into FAANG megaliths)? This is not a trivial issue. I encourage everyone interested in this to do some research and common-sense thinking about how you want technology to evolve, and who you want controlling and exploiting that technology. It matters.