[whatwg] on codecs in a 'video' tag.

[Christoph Päper]

Maciej Stachowiak (Apple):
> Reasons Apple would like MPEG4 + H.264 + AAC to be the preferred  
> codec stack

In the end, isn't Safari going to play back whatever Quicktime  
supports? There is an Ogg Theora + Vorbis codec for Quicktime. It's  
easy to get and install. (I don't know whether it will be possible to  
install it on embedded devices like the Iphone, though.) IMVHO this  
could be seen as fulfilling a 'should' condition, albeit not as clean  
as intended.

> Reasons Mozilla would like Ogg + Theora + Vorbis to be the  
> preferred codec

As I understand it, work is underway to improve automatic download of  
extensions for decoding unsupported image formats in Mozilla. This  
probably could be reused for video (and audio). OTOH the downloaded  
non-paid codecs would still not be legal in certain jurisdictions.

It's a pity that mere /decoding/ is involved in patent and licensing  
fee issues at all! It's also a pity that not only the providers (e.g.  
Xiph), but the users (e.g. Apple) of an alleged (and perhaps indeed)  
free format take a legal and financial risk.

> That is why we are not trying to force our codec preference on you,  
> but rather propose to leave this issue open.

That's still my position, too, but for different reasons.

PS: Did anyone ask the porn industry what they want to and actually  
do use?