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>This already happened with attack on VP8 even without any acquisition. MS hand behind it was not even very hidden. Nokia was really starving for money and wan

by leaffig 13y ago

>This already happened with attack on VP8 even without any acquisition. MS hand behind it was not even very hidden. Nokia was really starving for money and wanted to monetize their patents, and saw VP8 as a threat. Instead of waiting for it to be popular and then pounce, they pre-emptively requested Google(which is rolling in dough) to license their patents. They did spend a lot on R&D in their heyday, they're not a garden variety patent troll. If a CEO didn't try to get their patents licensed while hurting badly for money, they would be called out for it. I fail to see any MS hand in this, hidden or not. Do you have any references to back that up?

shmerl 13y ago
>Nokia was really starving for money and wanted to monetize their patents, and saw VP8 as a threat. I doubt it. It looked more like an attack on the open web. MS and Apple always didn't like open codecs. They never even implemented them in their browsers and products. Nokia is not part of MPEG-LA, so they aren't really direct competitors codecs wise. So I see no point for Nokia themselves to be such jerks as to attack open codecs. It makes more sense to do such thing for MS or Apple, and MS is in closer proximity here.
- leaffig 13y ago
  That doesn't make any sense. Microsoft pays more for H.264 licenses than what it gets. Shipping VP8 with Windows will only open them to more patent lawsuits since Google doesn't indemnify VP8 users from patent suits. http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2010/05/19/another-follow-up-on-html5-video-in-ie9.aspx http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2... Google will be the least affected by patent trolls with VP8, they only have to pay license fees on Nexus devices, Chromebooks, Motorola devices which are barely a handful compared to the number of Windows devices, iDevices and other Android devices. >So I see no point for Nokia themselves to be such jerks as to attack open codecs Except for one big reason, to monetize their patents.
  - shmerl 13y ago
    >. Shipping VP8 with Windows will only open them to more patent lawsuits since Google doesn't indemnify VP8 users from patent suits. That's an empty excuse they used to explain why they didn't ship open codecs. Totally bogus, since MPEG-LA doesn't indemnify anyone from lawsuits of any patent troll either (MS were even sued themselves by Motorola!), yet MS is completely OK with using H.264. > Except for one big reason, to monetize their patents. Suddenly now, out of the blue? Nokia are not new to patent litigation. VP8 is not new either. But now MS has a good grip over Nokia. And VP8 is being attacked. Everything points to MS here.

by leaffig 13y ago

shmerl 13y ago

>Nokia was really starving for money and wanted to monetize their patents, and saw VP8 as a threat. I doubt it. It looked more like an attack on the open web. MS and Apple always didn't like open codecs. They never even implemented them in their browsers and products. Nokia is not part of MPEG-LA, so they aren't really direct competitors codecs wise. So I see no point for Nokia themselves to be such jerks as to attack open codecs. It makes more sense to do such thing for MS or Apple, and MS is in closer proximity here.

leaffig 13y ago
That doesn't make any sense. Microsoft pays more for H.264 licenses than what it gets. Shipping VP8 with Windows will only open them to more patent lawsuits since Google doesn't indemnify VP8 users from patent suits. http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2010/05/19/another-follow-up-on-html5-video-in-ie9.aspx http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2... Google will be the least affected by patent trolls with VP8, they only have to pay license fees on Nexus devices, Chromebooks, Motorola devices which are barely a handful compared to the number of Windows devices, iDevices and other Android devices. >So I see no point for Nokia themselves to be such jerks as to attack open codecs Except for one big reason, to monetize their patents.
- shmerl 13y ago
  >. Shipping VP8 with Windows will only open them to more patent lawsuits since Google doesn't indemnify VP8 users from patent suits. That's an empty excuse they used to explain why they didn't ship open codecs. Totally bogus, since MPEG-LA doesn't indemnify anyone from lawsuits of any patent troll either (MS were even sued themselves by Motorola!), yet MS is completely OK with using H.264. > Except for one big reason, to monetize their patents. Suddenly now, out of the blue? Nokia are not new to patent litigation. VP8 is not new either. But now MS has a good grip over Nokia. And VP8 is being attacked. Everything points to MS here.