Nokia moves to block Google’s attempt to take over Web video

Nokia has refused to licence 64 of their own granted patents and 22 pending patents to allow Google to make their proprietary WebM codec a FRAND standard.

Google has been trying to circumvent the H.264 codec and its licensing by creating its own codec system, VP8, which it purchased from On2 Technologies.

Google initially insisted their codec did not infringe on anyone else’s patents, their usual tactic when it comes to usurping the intellectual property of others and giving it away for free (see Android), but agreed eventually to a licence agreement with the MPEG LA, who owns H.264.

Now Nokia has insisted this is not enough, and that Google’s codecs also infringe their patents, and they will not be licensing.

In a statement given to FOSS Patents, a Nokia spokesman describes the company’s latest actions as an "unusual step," but claims that it is necessary to prevent Google from "forc[ing] the adoption of its proprietary technology, which offers no advantages over existing, widely deployed standards such as H.264.”

If Google did get its way Google would likely quickly convert all the video on YouTube to its own standard, and its successors, and force Windows and Windows Phone to implement an ever changing target (Google is already planning VP9) leaving everyone else a step behind, something which would benefit only Google, who of course control Android and the Chrome browser. 

We have already seen this in action with Gmail and Caldav, and represents a rather nefarious strategy for the company who’s motto is an imperative to themselves not to be Evil.

Via The Verge.com