Anthony wrote:
On 7/21/07, Peter Halasz <email(a)pengo.org>
wrote:
[...]
Allowing
Proprietary Flash clients to display our Free OGG content is
a Good Thing, even if we have to transcode to flv to get it there.
Playback is not a zero sum game -- we can support different clients.
Let's not get pretend this is the same as supporting FLV as a native
file format -- it's not. It's only about playback.
Is this definitely legal? Can the WMF transcode OGG to flv without
permission from anyone? If so, I really don't see the problem, per
the reasons you give. But Kat mentioned this:
"So, great, you can edit the theora version with only free tools, but
then you can't update the Flash version; you're dependent on someone
willing to play by their rules to do so."
This implies that some sort of permission is needed to transcode OGG
to flv (or maybe it has to be done outside the US).
I guess I could just look up the answer to this, but there are
probably others on this list wondering similar things.
You don't need permission. At most you need a patent license, but MPEG LA
don't charge for noncommercial use of open source encoders, and they don't
charge for "free internet broadcast" either.
-- Tim Starling