[M4IF Discuss] Accounting and Tracking

[Jordan Greenhall]

I know that the use fees represent a potentially *huge* revenue
opportunity for the Pool.  But I wonder if the licensors have fully
considered the accounting and tracking nightmare.  It is hard enough
today to track MPEG-2 vendors.  But for each technology vendor there are
hundreds, even thousands, of content providers that are their customers.
The vast majority of these customers are going to be mid-to-small and
tracking their use to enforce fees will be nothing short of a nightmare.
I can guarantee that we wont be able to do it.  DivXNetworks will
certainly pay encoder and decoder fees, but use fees will be up to the
content provider or network operator.  
Which means that either MPEGLA is looking to bite off a lot, hasn't
fully considered the logistical problem, or isn't thinking about
enforcing use fees against these small and mid-sized content providers.
This last is of most concern to me: 
1.  Most of the content that will make the standard valuable will be
produced and disseminated by the small and mid sized operators or
content providers.  Non-enforced license fees will scare most of them
without any benefit.  If you aren't going to enforce it, don't charge
it.
2. Targeting the major content providers / network operators is
particularly scary.  An AOL/TW or a Comcast who has potentially hundreds
of millions of dollars at-stake on a $0.01 cent switch on "use fees"
will be extraordinarily strongly motivated to avoid the standard and use
something that is "free".  Clearly if the majors don't use MPEG-4, the
standard will be in trouble.
My $0.02 per hour.
J
Query: does anyone know a) how much royalty revenue has been generated
by MPEG-2; b) how much would/should be considered reasonable for MPEG-4?
Use fees are a holy grail - but are they grasping for the brass ring
when the requirement is "fair and reasonable".
J