[M4IF Discuss] MPEG-LA, On2 and the DoJ

[Craig Birkmaier]

At 10:12 AM -0800 3/18/02, Jordan Greenhall wrote:
>Query. If this is the case, how have Microsoft and Real managed to 
>get away with free "proprietary" solutions for so long?  A logical 
>guarantee is not necessary, all that is necessary is practical 
>success in licensing a proprietary solution. 

Just a few observations.
To date, the quality of streaming media has not been much of a threat 
to traditional analog and digital distribution networks using NTSC, 
PAL and MPEG-2.  And many of the techniques used in MPEG-2 are not 
workable at the lower bitrates used for streaming today.
The ability to track usage has been limited by the nature of how the 
streams have been served in the past. There have been several 
developments that make a usage fee more practical and/or attractive 
to MPEG-LA:
1. The emergence of services that host streaming media such as Akamai 
Digital Island, et al. The business model for these services is a 
volume based pricing  model dependant on usage levels.
2. The emergence of fee based subscription models for streaming audio 
and video. For example the Real One Super Pass, which provides access 
to streaming media content for $9.95/mo.
3. The growing number of businesses and homes with broadband connections.
4. The growing interest from cable and DBS in the use of MPEG-4 
because of it's improved compression efficiency and the advanced 
services enabled by MPEG-4.
I would point out that the MP3 licensing program was finalized only 
after the technology had become widely used on the Internet. It is 
often the case with IPR battles that the string on the trap is not 
pulled until the prey is living comfortably in the trap.
-- 
Regards
Craig Birkmaier
Pcube Labs