[M4IF Discuss] (no subject)

[Dave Singer]

>Again, I don't like usage-fees for new markets - but if I was the maker of
>an MPEG-2 DVD and paying 4cents/DVD for a license - I can see wanting to
>switch to new-fangled MPEG-4 DVD-players when they come out (because of
>broadband-connected DVD players or putting HDTV on IR-Laser DVDs instead of
>going to blue-light lasers)- and I can see MPEG-LA not wanting that kind of
>switch to go on "for free" - but maybe they would need "legacy" MPEG-2
>content anyway so there's no problem....
>

This is very much a personal opinion:
The use fees seem to be only suited for applications which are 
"dedicated channel".  An entire DVD is devoted to MPEG-2;  an entire 
DVB broadcast is likewise.  In these cases, monitoring to calculate 
the usage fee is un-needed, and the model is workable.
The problem is that MPEG-4 is not intended for dedicated channel use. 
It is as if the lawyers and the engineers have completely different 
uses and markets in mind.  MPEG-4 is intended for mixed-channel 
(internet, IP, network) use, where it is completely unreasonable to 
charge for the entire channel (e.g. "per disk copied", "per minute 
spent dialed in") and unworkable to compute the fractional channel 
usage of by the MPEG-4 video codec.
-- 
David Singer
Apple Computer/QuickTime