[M4IF Discuss] MPEG-4 Audio License nearing?

[Rob Koenen]

Discuss readers,
There was some interesting news yesterday, which suggests that an MPEG-4
Audio joint licensing scheme is getting closer to market:
<http://www.vialicensing.com/news/via_pr_0212_MPEG4Admin.html> MPEG-4
Audio Licensing Committee Selects Via Licensing Corp. as Administrator.
The release quotes the first quarter of the next year (which is over 4
years after MPEG-4 version 1 was approved by MPEG) as the target date.
So we have, in terms of joint licensing schemes:  
*	MPEG-4 Visual - available as of last week;
*	MPEG-4 Systems - announced but waiting to be made available;
can't be long anymore (I *hope*);
*	MPEG-4 Audio - probably available early next year.
While I am at it, I'd like to include a link following article about the
ongoing discussions about the role of patents in standards:
<http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975587.html?tag=fd_top> Patent holders on
the ropes from CNET, also featured on other websites. And there is more
news on MPEG-4 today, related to the Broadband Plus show. The E-box
consortium and Envivio both have announcements on (secure) MPEG-4
solutions, working with Nagravision. E-box will start trials early next
year with Comcast. Also, PACE is showing an MPEG-4 capable STB, and
yesterday, Sorenson released the new, MPEG-4 enabled, Squeeze 3. See
www.m4if.org for links.
Best,
Rob
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