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US Justice Department starts antitrust investigation of MPEG-LA
CNet, WSJ and others are reporting that the US DoJ has launched an antitrust investigation of industry cartel and patent troll, MPEG-LA.
The investigation apparently seeks to uncover whether the MPEG-LA is attempting to cripple competition, specifically VP8/WebM, by using vague patent threats to create "legal uncertainty over whether users might violate patents by employing that technology", as the WSJ puts it.
If this is true, it seems that the MPEG-LA will either have to put up or shut up, while at the same time risking an antitrust case against itself for its attempt at crippling competition, and free and open video on the web.
The investigation apparently seeks to uncover whether the MPEG-LA is attempting to cripple competition, specifically VP8/WebM, by using vague patent threats to create "legal uncertainty over whether users might violate patents by employing that technology", as the WSJ puts it.
If this is true, it seems that the MPEG-LA will either have to put up or shut up, while at the same time risking an antitrust case against itself for its attempt at crippling competition, and free and open video on the web.
Readers' comments 26
Left under the original article, as archived.
About this article
| Published in | A Journal from Behind the Trenches |
|---|---|
| Date | March 4, 2011 |
| Author | Haavard |
| Tags | mafia, web, webm, open standards, vp8, mpeg-la |
| Original | Internet Archive |
Charles SchlossFriday, March 4, 2011 9:05:53 PM
Daniel HendrycksFriday, March 4, 2011 9:09:28 PM
WOFallFriday, March 4, 2011 9:10:43 PM
PengeFriday, March 4, 2011 9:17:18 PM
Martin KadlecFriday, March 4, 2011 9:17:29 PM
blackcoderFriday, March 4, 2011 9:35:34 PM
Çağlar YeşilyurtFriday, March 4, 2011 9:40:10 PM
John A. Bilicki IIIFriday, March 4, 2011 10:09:11 PM
sleepyheadFriday, March 4, 2011 10:26:44 PM
c-c-c-combo breaker!
NintendofanaticFriday, March 4, 2011 10:38:12 PM
ouzowtfFriday, March 4, 2011 10:52:31 PM
J. KingFriday, March 4, 2011 10:57:09 PM
Spadar ShutFriday, March 4, 2011 11:22:46 PM
Knut Remi "DrLaunch" LøvliSaturday, March 5, 2011 8:25:06 AM
Oops wrong one. I meant:
Jan Frode HøinesSaturday, March 5, 2011 9:03:20 AM
Dan AlexandruSaturday, March 5, 2011 11:30:15 AM
sirnh1Saturday, March 5, 2011 2:12:38 PM
Artur „Jurgi” JurgawkaSaturday, March 5, 2011 3:48:44 PM
d4rkn1ghtSaturday, March 5, 2011 4:43:03 PM
KawaSunday, March 6, 2011 4:10:28 PM
Brian HuismanMonday, March 7, 2011 3:56:57 PM
Cutting SpoonMonday, March 7, 2011 5:16:28 PM
What else could possibly be said?
DaringineerTuesday, March 8, 2011 2:03:23 AM
MaximThursday, March 10, 2011 10:55:36 PM
Mad Scientist (عادل)Saturday, March 12, 2011 5:15:29 PM
ChristopherWednesday, March 16, 2011 10:50:13 AM
@ MPEG LA:
for the open Web: