Re:AV1 codec ecosystem update
by wmf on Monday June 10, 2019 @07:38PM
(#20151924)
This is a large and old topic but I'll attempt to summarize.
1. The difference between $0 and even the smallest license fee is essentially infinite; just the friction to track and collect license fees would basically kill off the open source ecosystem. Also, it really rubs some people the wrong way that you can get a complete operating system and hundreds of apps for free but a single modern video codec used to cost money.
2. Codec patent licenses are sometimes kind of trolly; some codecs want to charge fees per minute of video instead of per encoder/decoder which is an accounting nightmare and feels abusive.
1. The difference between $0 and even the smallest license fee is essentially infinite; just the friction to track and collect license fees would basically kill off the open source ecosystem. Also, it really rubs some people the wrong way that you can get a complete operating system and hundreds of apps for free but a single modern video codec used to cost money.
2. Codec patent licenses are sometimes kind of trolly; some codecs want to charge fees per minute of video instead of per encoder/decoder which is an accounting nightmare and feels abusive.