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  • And the Best Answer For Open Web Video Is …

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    Rob Glidden
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    In a virtual rematch of 18 months ago, the HTML 5 community has again stalemated on how to include video capability.  On June 29, HTML 5 Editor Ian Hickson posted on the whatwg mailing list: After an inordinate amount of discussions, both in public and privately, on the situation regarding codecs for <video> and <audio>…

  • 6 Things You Should Know About Open Video & Open Standards

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    Rob Glidden
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    It is very exciting to see the “Open Video” movement taking off and finding voice with the upcoming Open Video Conference. This well-earned “open breakthrough” has been a long time coming.  After all, open standards, and particularly royalty-free standards, are the very foundation of the Open Internet as we know it, and Internet leaders are…

  • Royalty-Free Standards Can Be America’s Broadband Advantage

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    Rob Glidden
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    I have filed comments (available here) to the National Broadband Policy Notice of Information (09-51).  Excerpt from the executive summary: Open standards, and particularly royalty-free standards, are the very foundation of the Open Internet as we know it, and Internet leaders are vocal that open and royalty free standards are essential to its future. So…

  • US DTV Patent Royalties Range From $24 to $40

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    Rob Glidden
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    Filings last week in the CUT FATT proceeding at the US FCC on patent overcharging in the US digital TV transition claim that royalty demands for US ATSC-standard television receivers range from $24.10 to $40.10, depending on the size of the TV receiver. The numbers in the table to the right appeared in the Reply…

  • Consumer Groups Request FCC Investigate DTV Patent Licensing

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    Rob Glidden
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    A group of public interest and consumer groups — Public Knowledge, Consumers Union, Free Press, Media Access Project, and New America Foundation — have filed reply comments in the CUT FATT proceeding on digital TV licensing practices at the US Federal Communications Commission, asserting that the Commission should: “investigate allegations that existing licenses for patents…

  • “Public Standards Require Public Accountability”

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    Rob Glidden
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    I have filed reply comments in the CUT FATT proceeding (09-23).  Excerpt from the executive summary: “The Commission’s request for comments has brought mostly highly critical opposing comments from patent holders, and mostly mild or ambivalent comments from standards groups and other interested parties. Only one commenter, Harris Corporation, themselves an acknowledged recipient of the…

  • Is It Reasonable to Discriminate? ABA Group Weighs in on CUT FATT DTV Patent Dispute

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    Rob Glidden
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    “RAND” — Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory — is a term often used in standards contexts to describe or set expectations of fairness in patent licensing related to standards. But what does the term “RAND” really mean?  As one well-known commentary on standard-setting, patents, and hold-up states:  “few SSOs [standard-setting organizations] define the term ‘reasonable and nondiscriminatory’…

  • The New Math of “Objective” RAND: “Over Half” Is Less Than “A Tiny Fraction”

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    Rob Glidden
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    There is much contention in the CUT FATT filings as to how much royalties are claimed on the US and other DTV systems, and what significance the differences may have in the framework of “RAND” (Reasonable and Nondiscriminatory) standards policies and government oversight. The debated amount for royalties on the US DTV system is $23…

  • A Revisionist History of TV Patent Pools

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    Rob Glidden
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    Mitsubishi Electric, a patent holder in the ATSC patent pool, in commenting in the CUT FATT DTV patent consideration, makes the statement (emphasis added): “Neither Congress nor a U.S. government agency has ever compelled patent holders to form a licensing pool defined by government-mandated royalties.  In essence, this would be a grant of a compulsory…

  • DTV Patent Holders Push to Continue Royalty Scheme

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    Rob Glidden
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    FCC Docket 09-23, Petition For Rulemaking And Request For Declaratory Ruling Filed By The Coalition United To Terminate Financial Abuses Of The Television Transition, has drawn filings from Mitsubishi, Valley View, Philips/LG Electronics, Funai, Thomson, ATSC, Harris, Zenith, MPEG LA, Philips/Qualcomm, and Retire Safe. A starting point in reviewing this material is the joint filing…