Re: video codecs in HTML 5
On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 04:43:52PM +0100, Maik Merten wrote:
> Romain Beauxis schrieb:
> > I don't agree, you'll always have the threat of an abusing patent that claims
> > that some algorithm you designed were "owned" by it.. Have you ever looked at
> > the JPEG processing for example ? It is simply a fourier transform followed
> > by an huffman compression... All well known, but still "owned" by an abusing
> > patent..
> There's a vital difference between knowing that you may get stabbed
> (submarine patents) and deliberately asking someone to stab you
> (choosing a format that is covered by patents that are actively enforced).
And indeed, from a standards POV, it's in our best interest as a society to
encourage and promulgate standards which do *not* depend on
actively-enforced patents. Even if we believe that Debian and Debian users
can avoid having to pay such fees, the inclusion of such patented
technologies in a standard ensures that the patent holders *will* collect
more licensing fees from *others* who implement the standard, thereby
rewarding them for their abuse of patents.
The biggest obstacle to freedom from immoral and illegal patent regimes is
that racketeering is *profitable*.
--
Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS
Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world.
vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/
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