[rtcweb] Google statement on codecs

[Justin Uberti <[e-mail]>]

We believe that the WebRTC effort represents an unprecedented opportunity
to establish a new real-time communications platform. Like the web
platform, it is built on freely available components, providing
state-of-the-art quality to all developers, big or small, with no need for
technology licensing. This approach has worked wonders for the web, and we
hope for the same result with WebRTC.

Therefore, we believe the sole mandatory-to-implement video codec in WebRTC
should be VP8, the only viable royalty-free option. We believe it provides
superior quality, which is why we are increasingly using it in our own
products. We are also strongly committed to the future of VP8; we continue
to invest heavily in its development, and we have a clear record of
vigorously defending our technology.

On the audio side, we believe that Opus should be the default
mandatory-to-implement audio codec, assuming the remaining licensing issues
can be resolved. Opus delivers excellent quality,  from narrowband to
fullband, for streaming and realtime, making it an ideal choice for a
baseline codec. We also recommend that G.711 be mandatory, for
compatibility with the vast universe of PSTN equipment.

Given the ability to deliver a royalty-free platform with no compromises on
quality, we see no reason to include mandatory royalty-bearing codecs.