video codec patent nonsense [LWN.net]

video codec patent nonsense

Posted Apr 10, 2008 15:28 UTC (Thu) by jake (editor, #205)
In reply to: video codec patent nonsense by DonDiego
Parent article: Video forums for free software

> What irks me is that perfectly reasonable people like you, Jake, repeat 
> this fallacy as if it were gospel, when they really should know better.

I guess I am having trouble seeing what fallacy I am repeating.  I think you read more into my
statement than was there.  I don't believe the article really addressed the patent situation
vis a vis Theora and Dirac, though it certainly implies that they are less patent encumbered
(and they are, at least as far as is known).

Free is ambiguous, but I think most folks understood what was meant.

> No such proof exists.

Nor can it as we have both agreed.

> Statements like "XYZ is not covered by software patents"

Which is not a statement that the article made.

I think you are reacting to what you have heard elsewhere (possibly including on this site and
written by me) as if it is here in this article.

jake

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video codec patent nonsense

Posted Apr 10, 2008 15:41 UTC (Thu) by DonDiego (subscriber, #24141) [Link]

Jake, when you write that

  Patented video codecs are a big part of the problem, though there are
  free alternatives (Theora and Dirac for example), they are not widely
  used.

then you are clearly implying that the alternatives (i.e. Theora and Dirac) are not covered by
patents.  I really do not think I am reading things into your article that are not present in
it.

You could avoid this by either replacing "patented video codecs" by something along the lines
of "video codecs with known patent pools" or simply avoid making a statement about the patent
situation at all or by speaking about the licensing fees (protection money rather) that some
entities collect for its use.

As an alternative you could rephrase the above paragraph like this:

  Video codecs requiring licensing fees for certain uses in certain parts
  of the world are a big part of the problem, though there are alternatives
  that do not require licensing fees (Theora and Dirac for example), they
  are not widely used.

This would certainly be a tad more cumbersome, but you would not make statements which are
misleading and for which you have no proof.  You get my drift.