Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options (was: Re: confirming sense of the room: mti codec)

Lorenzo Miniero <lorenzo@meetecho.com> Wed, 10 December 2014 23:13 UTC

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Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 00:13:17 +0100
From: Lorenzo Miniero <lorenzo@meetecho.com>
To: Richard Barnes <rlb@ipv.sx>
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Subject: Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options (was: Re: confirming sense of the room: mti codec)
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On Wed, 10 Dec 2014 18:04:46 -0500
Richard Barnes <rlb@ipv.sx> wrote:

> +1
> 
> This conversation is out of scope for this mailing list.
> 


And yet it does raise some flags, though. Had I blindly trusted the claims that have been made on this ML (not out of scope at the time, apparently) about what the infamous plugin allegedly provided, I could have ended up offering services based on openH264 and hopefully try and make some money out of it: only to find myself suitable in the process, and in perfectly good faith. I don't think raising awareness on such a delicate issue that matters to the discussion is so out of scope.

Lorenzo


> On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 4:59 PM, Martin Thomson <martin.thomson@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > On 10 December 2014 at 13:46, Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> wrote:
> > > This rules out commercial use.  Doesn't this fail the “reasonable”
> > > part of RAND because it is expected that commercial end users obtain a
> > > separate patent license of their own (which is not part of a product
> > > that can be purchased)?  If this is still considered “reasonable”, is
> > > the fact relevant that all published MPEG-LA material about H.264
> > > refers to patent licensing in a broadcasting context (either the
> > > production side, or the receiver side)?  This strongly suggests to me
> > > that they may lack the rights to license H.264 for use in video
> > > conferencing applications.
> >
> > I recommend that you consult counsel on these sorts of questions.
> > Seeking legal opinion on an internet mailing list might not produce
> > the best results.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > rtcweb mailing list
> > rtcweb@ietf.org
> > https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/rtcweb
> >


-- 
Lorenzo Miniero, COB

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