Motorola released their GSM required patents under FRAND licensing. Google buys Motorola and tries to use those same patents in a fight with Apple and Motorola (dragging Qualcomm in with them). Google has to agree with the FTC not to do that.
Why would Apple or Microsoft believe Google's patent and royalty free license given their behavior with Motorola's prior promises?
Apple and MS just don't like open codecs, period. That's the whole reason they sabotage them. It's not about belief - it's about the struggle between closed and open.
Apple and MS don't like legal uncertainty and additional risks in choosing technologies. Open never entered into it. People also forget some of the problem both companies had with MPEG-LA.
> H.264 has a group of companies and a lot of lawyers backing it up.
How can it help against some patent troll who can appear tomorrow and threaten H.264 users? No army of lawyers can help against that. So all this rhetoric is completely useless. Legally VP8 is as good as H.264. The only reason for them to avoid is to retain their monopolistic grip on codecs usage.
Exactly the patent threat will come from the MPEG-LA or the members directly.
Because if VP9 is indeed similar to H.265 then you I would imagine a patent is being infringed somewhere. And since Google doesn't provide patent indemnification you can guarantee that some big royalties will be demanded from users.
> Exactly the patent threat will come from the MPEG-LA or the members directly. Because if VP9 is indeed similar to H.265
Why would they design the codec to be vulnerable to patent attacks? VP8 was designed to work around threats from H.264. They surely applied the same logic for VP9 since they intend it for practical use and not as theoretical brain exercise. MPEG-LA spits threats all the time, including against Theora and VP8, but they have no teeth to bite.
Why would Apple or Microsoft believe Google's patent and royalty free license given their behavior with Motorola's prior promises?