Any video call between users of Skype’s newest Windows client automatically uses Google’s open video codec VP8. Being embraced by a company that’s soon part of Microsoft is a big boost for Google’s open video strategy, and it could quell potential fears of patent lawsuits. Read more »
H.264 license holder MPEG LA says it’s ready to step up the fight against Google’s open-source WebM format. After threatening to form a patent pool to use against WebM, the group now says it has identified 12 companies with patents essential to the VP8 standard. Read more »
Google’s open video format WebM has some new backers, with companies like Cisco, LG and Samsung joining a cross-licensing initiative to insure themselves against patent-related litigation. However, the need for such an initiative also shows how serious Google has to take any threats of patent lawsuits. Read more »
Any new video uploaded to YouTube will be automatically encoded in WebM, the open-source video format that’s backed by Google, Mozilla and others. YouTube has also been busy transcoding its back catalog and has now around 30 percent of all videos available in WebM. Read more »
The Department of Justice and the California State Attorney are looking into MPEG LA’s formation of a patent pool for Google’s WebM video format. Regulators are trying to figure out whether the patent pool is meant to stifle competition for the established video format H.264. Read more »
Licensing outlet MPEG LA has announced that it is forming a patent pool for VP8, the codec at the core of Google’s open source video format WebM. Google’s response? Bring it on. It’s time to “put up or shut up,” as one WebM supporter put it. Read more »
MPEG LA is announcing today that it will continue to offer a royalty-free license for the H.264 video codec for video sites that offer free video streams to consumers “during the entire life of this (l)icense.” In other words: H.264 streaming will be free forever. Read more »
Sexual affairs, fast sports cars and 30 day trial periods for CD burning software: Those are just some of the elements of a pretty juicy lawsuit German software maker NERO has filed against MPEG LA, the company that licenses video codecs like MPEG-2 and H.264. Read more »
Google made waves earlier this week by releasing its VP8 codec under an open source, royalty free license, providing an open, high quality alternative to H.264 and Ogg Theora. But if MPEG LA gets its way, the codec might not remain free for long. Read more »
