#1491 NORM Trial-2: Viable video codec for voip needed

[Zarro Boogs per Child]

#1491: Viable video codec for voip needed
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  Reporter:  sjoerd  |       Owner:  blizzard
      Type:  defect  |      Status:  new     
  Priority:  normal  |   Milestone:  Trial-2 
 Component:  distro  |     Version:          
Resolution:          |    Keywords:          
  Verified:  0       |  
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Comment (by giles):

 As for the patent situation with h.263, the "Fair and Open" license terms
 for the registered patent portfolio are here:

   http://www.mpegla.com/m4v/m4v-agreement.cfm
   http://www.mpegla.com/m4v/m4v-faq.cfm

 It's currently $0.50 per unit for an encoder/decoder license, with a $2M
 cap. I think that includes a program stream license as well, not sure.
 While there are exemptions for personal use (like video conferencing, the
 faq says) there are also royalties for commercial production use even
 after the codec is paid for, so such a choice would also limit the
 creative possibilities of your users. I think choosing an encumbered codec
 with an active licensing practice would be a serious blow to software and
 user freedom for the OLPC project.

 I know less about h.261 licensing. There are some patents, I think, but it
 seems no one is actively collecting fees for them, and in a few years the
 standard will be old enough that it can no longer be encumbered.

 Motion JPEG and hybrids like smoke (gstreamer native) might work for lan-
 based conferencing, and are also lower complexity.

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Ticket URL: <http://dev.laptop.org/ticket/1491#comment:3>
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