Boycott warning to companies considering joining MPEG LA's patent pool
On their website, MPEG LA says:
In order to participate in the creation of, and determine licensing terms for, a joint VP8 patent license, any party that believes it has patents that are essential to the VP8 video codec specification is invited to submit them for a determination of their essentiality by MPEG LA’s patent evaluators.
Last April, Steve Jobs allegedly claimed a patent pool was being formed to go after VP8 and Theora. This threat has now been realized.
In response, we're asking everyone who values a web free of restrictions and threats like this — and especially everyone who values the publication of audio and video files on the web — to sign a pledge that they will join in a targeted boycott of products from the companies who sign onto this patent pool.
Together, we can name, shame and penalize any corporation threatening a free web.
Show your support
Show your support for your pledge and for this boycott by putting up one of these buttons on your website or blog.
We've included the SVG if people want to use it in different ways too.
For background reading check out: