blog/data/2010-09-09-mpeg-la.txt

   1 Title: Terms of use for video produced by a Canon IXUS 130 digital camera
   2 Tags: english, nuug, fildeling, multimedia, opphavsrett, personvern, standard, video, web, digistan
   3 Date: 2010-09-09 23:55
   4
   5 <p>A few days ago I had the mixed pleasure of bying a new digital
   6 camera, a Canon IXUS 130.  It was instructive and very disturbing to
   7 be able to verify that also this camera producer have the nerve to
   8 specify how I can or can not use the videos produced with the camera.
   9 Even thought I was aware of the issue, the options with new cameras
  10 are limited and I ended up bying the camera anyway.  What is the
  11 problem, you might ask?  It is software patents, MPEG-4, H.264 and the
  12 MPEG-LA that is the problem, and our right to record our experiences
  13 without asking for permissions that is at risk.
  14
  15 <p>On page 27 of the Danish instruction manual, this section is
  16 written:</p>
  17
  18 <blockquote>
  19 <p>This product is licensed under AT&T patents for the MPEG-4 standard
  20 and may be used for encoding MPEG-4 compliant video and/or decoding
  21 MPEG-4 compliant video that was encoded only (1) for a personal and
  22 non-commercial purpose or (2) by a video provider licensed under the
  23 AT&T patents to provide MPEG-4 compliant video.</p>
  24
  25 <p>No license is granted or implied for any other use for MPEG-4
  26 standard.</p>
  27 </blockquote>
  28
  29 <p>In short, the camera producer have chosen to use technology
  30 (MPEG-4/H.264) that is only provided if I used it for personal and
  31 non-commercial purposes, or ask for permission from the organisations
  32 holding the knowledge monopoly (patent) for technology used.</p>
  33
  34 <p>This issue has been brewing for a while, and I recommend you to
  35 read
  36 "<a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/23236/Why_Our_Civilization_s_Video_Art_and_Culture_is_Threatened_by_the_MPEG-LA">Why
  37 Our Civilization's Video Art and Culture is Threatened by the
  38 MPEG-LA</a>" by Eugenia Loli-Queru and
  39 "<a href="http://webmink.com/2010/09/03/h-264-and-foss/">H.264 Is Not
  40 The Sort Of Free That Matters</a>" by Simon Phipps to learn more about
  41 the issue.  The solution is to support the
  42 <a href="http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition">free and
  43 open standards</a> for video, like <a href="http://www.theora.org/">Ogg
  44 Theora</a>, and avoid MPEG-4 and H.264 if you can.</p>