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Microsoft isn't a member (yet?)Microsoft isn't a member (yet?)Posted Apr 27, 2011 10:55 UTC (Wed) by Simetrical (guest, #53439)Parent article: The WebM Community Cross-License Initiative launches
Microsoft said (emphasis added): Ultimately, Microsoft remains agnostic in terms of HTML5 video as long as there is clarity on the intellectual property issues. To make it clear that we are fully willing to participate in a resolution of these issues, Microsoft is willing to commit that we will never assert any patents on VP8 if Google will make a commitment to indemnify us and all other developers and customers who use VP8 in the future. We would only ask that we be able to use those patent rights if we are sued first by somebody else. If Google would prefer a patent pool approach, then we would also agree to join a patent pool for VP8 on reasonable licensing terms so long as Google joins the pool and is able to include all other major providers of playback software and devices. But Microsoft is not on the list of members. Does Microsoft feel that the pool doesn't include "all other major providers of playback software and devices", and if so, who's missing? (Or to give them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps they're considering whether to join and haven't yet made a final decision.)
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Microsoft isn't a member (yet?) Posted Apr 27, 2011 16:00 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link] That's a rather one-sided statement from Microsoft. It's saying that it will promise never to assert any of its (nonexistent) patents against WebM/VP8, but only if Google pledges to indemnify everyone, meaning that if anyone wins a patent judgment against anyone for VP8, Google pays. So of course Microsoft would be happy to take a cost-free action in exchange for a risky action by Google.Google isn't going to promise to indemnify everyone, because that puts real stockholder money on the line to pay whatever some idiot Texas jury decides (sorry to Texans in the audience, but Texas is infamous for its patent courts, which is why all plaintiffs try to sue for patent infringement in Texas).
Microsoft isn't a member (yet?) Posted Apr 27, 2011 22:09 UTC (Wed) by Simetrical (guest, #53439) [Link]
I was asking about the part I bolded, where Microsoft said it would join a patent pool if Google formed one. That's independent from the indemnification part, as I read it.
Microsoft isn't a member (yet?) Posted Apr 27, 2011 23:45 UTC (Wed) by JoeBuck (subscriber, #2330) [Link]
No, they are also requiring that Google include "all other major providers of playback software and devices", meaning Apple, Motorola, Sony and who knows who else. They seem to be saying that they'd be the very last to join such a pool.
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