About open video and preventing

Important note: this blog post is my own opinion. No more, no less.

Undoubtedly, you have heard that  Youtube and  Vimeo have released beta versions of their HTML5 <video> video players. And there was a lot of talk about the codec they used: H.264. Although Firefox has excellent HTML5 <video> support , it does not support the (patented) H.264 codec, so you won’t be able to use these players in Firefox. This is because Mozilla believes (and I agree) that H.264 is not suitable for an open Web.

If you have not read it, I recommend reading:

• Robert O'Callahan writes about his talk at the LCA about open video and Mozilla
• His other blog post is where he compares H.264 and ActiveX
• Mike Shaver writes about H.264 licensing
• Christopher Blizzard writes about the history of the Web, network effects, and the long-term effects

Yeah, I know, this is a lot of fiction. But worth it.

Be that as it may, individuals suggested these solutions:

• Use the codec that comes with the operating system (if any).
• Licensing H.264 and delivering it only with binary versions of Firefox (and leave aside other vendors and implementers and developers with lower finances).
• Deliver H.264 in Firefox to people living in countries where software patents are not protected by law (live in the USA? No luck!).

Honestly, these decisions are selfish . They suggest that this is normal when only a select few have access to the Web. And it’s not good. It is not good to exclude people from the Web. Neither because of their hardware , nor because of the operating system that they use, nor because of the client they use, nor because of their location, nor because of how much money they have. For no reason. The web was conceived as open for participation in it - let’s save it with this.