[M4IF Discuss] Apple settles MPEG-4 dispute?

[Rob Koenen]

Thanks Craig.
As an FYI - articles like these are usually linked from 
our homepage, www.m4if.org
All - If you find one that isn't linked from the homepage,
you can register them here:
http://www.m4if.org/news/newsregister.php
With respect to this arcticle - I pointed out to Paul that
it wasn't MPEG-4 that proposed licensing terms, but a number
of owners of patents that are essential to MPEG-4's 
implementation. 
Rob
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Craig Birkmaier [mailto:craig   pcube.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2023 5:26
> To: discuss   lists.m4if.org
> Subject: [M4IF Discuss] Apple settles MPEG-4 dispute?
> 
> 
> http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-932224.html
> 
> Apple settles MPEG-4 dispute?
> By Joe Wilcox
> Special to ZDNet News
> June 4, 2002, 1:35 PM PT
> 
> Apple Computer on Tuesday released a public preview of QuickTime 6, 
> signaling the possible end of a heated dispute between the computer 
> maker and a licensing group that controls the use of MPEG-4 media 
> technology.
> 
> The computer maker took the unusual step of releasing the software in 
> absence of a final licensing agreement with MPEG LA, a licensing body 
> representing 18 patent holders that have claims on underlying MPEG-4 
> technology, a next-generation compression format for video and audio.
> 
> "The licensing stuff is getting worked out," Apple CEO Steve Jobs 
> said in an interview Tuesday. Every 'i' is not dotted and every 't' 
> is not crossed, but it's getting there. I have a lot of confidence it 
> will. This is too important not to get worked out."
> 
> Jobs said he believed the MPEG-4 licensing issues "will be worked 
> out" by the time QuickTime 6 is officially released later this summer.
> 
> Jobs emphasized that MPEG-4 would be vital to more broadly opening up 
> streaming of audio or video on the Web and giving consumers more 
> choice. Right now, much of the streaming is tied to proprietary 
> codecs used by Apple, RealNetworks or Microsoft.
> 
> "MPEG-2 still delivers the best video quality around," Jobs said. "It 
> is the gold standard. It is the world standard...The same group that 
> created MPEG-2, created MPEG-4, which is the next, new international 
> standard for digital video, for streaming, and for other uses. It 
> delivers video quality as good as MPEG-2 at about a third less the 
> bit rate."
> 
> MPEG LA confirmed that a final license had yet to be hammered out and 
> said the QuickTime release indicated faith on Apple's part that the 
> licensing terms would be acceptable.
> 
> "We don't have any new information on the licensing, and we hope that 
> we'll have final terms sometime this summer," said Larry Horn, vice 
> president of licensing and business development for MPEG LA. "That 
> being said, Apple's announcement shows great confidence that a 
> reasonable license from all the various patent holders will be 
> available."
> 
> MPEG-4 is the successor to the technologies that spawned the MP3 
> audio explosion. Like most current media formats, its audio and video 
> technologies aim to condense large digital packages into small files 
> that can be easily transmitted online. But the hype around the 
> technology focuses on its potential to give video itself the kind of 
> interactivity now found only in Web sites and video games.
> 
> Hoping to bank on this interest for patent holders, MPEG-4 in January 
> proposed imposing a per-minute charge on streaming, a requirement 
> that Apple and other potential MPEG-4 adopters consider too costly. 
> Apple unveiled the new version of its streaming media software 
> featuring MPEG-4 technology in February, but it delayed the version's 
> release because of the licensing dispute. RealNetworks also has 
> raised concerned about the licensing plan.
> 
> The proposed terms include a one-year grace period from the time the 
> program starts and covers uses before the launch of the license. 
> Industry sources said they expected the final licensing agreement to 
> mirror those terms.
> 
> Under pressure
> One prominent MPEG-4 figure noted that MPEG LA is under pressure to 
> offer competitive licensing terms, and that pressure may have helped 
> reassure Apple that it could release the QuickTime software before 
> the final license.
> 
> "MPEG LA has been talking to many potential licensees, and they're 
> taking comments from the market very seriously," said Rob Koenen, 
> chairman of the MPEG Requirements Group. "They're looking at this as 
> a product that they have to sell, and the price has to be right."
> 
> Apple plans to release QuickTime 6 with Jaguar, the next version of 
> Mac OS X, in late summer. QuickTime 6 would be the first Mac OS X 
> media player to support MPEG-4.
> 
> Currently, only Apple and Microsoft offer Mac OS X media players. But 
> Microsoft's media player only works as a standalone or with the 
> Internet Explorer 5.1 browser. Windows Media Player for Mac OS X is 
> not compatible with rival browsers such as AOL Time Warner's Netscape 
> 6.
> 
> RealNetworks has committed to releasing a Mac OS X version of its 
> media player, but it has yet to do so.
> 
> "The ISMA (Internet Streaming Media Alliance) is pleased that 
> industry support for MPEG-4 remains strong, as is evidenced by 
> Apple's latest announcement," said ISMA President Tom Jacobs. "The 
> ISMA membership continues to work toward interoperable approaches for 
> transporting and viewing rich media, and we believe that MPEG-4 is a 
> superb content choice. We look forward to MPEG-LA soon publishing 
> final licensing terms, and the ISMA has high expectations that 
> amenable terms for all will be reached."
> 
> Tuesday's release of the QuickTime 6 beta could be viewed as a 
> pre-emptive strike against Microsoft, which is expected this summer 
> to offer a test version of its next-generation digital media client 
> and server software, code-named Corona. Microsoft has not yet 
> committed to supporting MPEG-4, working instead on its own 
> proprietary codecs and streaming technologies.
> 
> More importantly, Microsoft does not plan to initially offer a Corona 
> player for the Mac when the technology debuts later this year.
> 
> "We'll focus on other platforms like the Mac primarily to ensure 
> Windows Media content playback," said Jonathan Usher, director of the 
> Windows Digital Media Division at Microsoft. "There will not be a 
> separate Corona player in that time frame."
> 
> Usher said he "can't comment" about whether Microsoft would release a 
> Corona player for the Mac. "Our focus right now for the Corona time 
> frame is Windows XP and other versions of Windows."
> 
> News.com's Paul Festa contributed to this report.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Regards
> Craig Birkmaier
> Pcube Labs
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