[M4IF Discuss] (no subject)

[William J. Fulco]

Dave,
That's kind of the take I've been assuming - that replacement for MPEG-2
applications are a reasonable use for use fees (and I've speculated that
that is what drove MPEG-LA to consider them in the first-place - preventing
the loss of substantial revenue if large distributors switch from MPEG-2 in
applications like DVD to MPEG-4 -  again, pure, bald-faced speculation on my
part).
The thing that rubs us all the wrong way the worst is the
accounting-aspect... this is why I suggested tiered-pricing, lower
entry-price (for smaller companies) and caps (for larger firms) -  for
non-replacement applications. Personally, I'd like to see the use-fee for
non-replacement uses go away...
++Bill
---------------------------------
William J. Fulco
wjf   NetworkXXIII.com
310-927-4263 (Cell)
Ne cede malis sed contra audientor ito!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dave Singer [mailto:singer   apple.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 09, 2024 5:55 AM
> To: William J. Fulco; Daniel B. Miller; M4IF Discussion List (E-mail)
> Subject: RE: [M4IF Discuss] (no subject)
>
>
> >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
>