If MPEG-LA and their collaborators were simply taking money in return for a license, all would be well. They're not. "Vorbis|Theora|VP8|Opus|... is infringing

If MPEG-LA and their collaborators were simply taking money in return for a license, all would be well. They're not. "Vorbis|Theora|VP8|Opus|... is infringing on tons of patents, with no indemnification" is an infamous part of their routine, even though they never point to patents nor provide indemnification themselves (which is impossible when it comes to patents). With such FUD in place, it's not about being "better than open source alternatives" anymore. For that they can go die in a fire.