[Wikimedia-l] RfC: Should we support MP4 Video on our sites?

[David Gerard]

On 16 January 2014 16:02, Andrew Lih <andrew.lih at gmail.com> wrote:

> Instead, I'd neutralize backdoored to something like, "unwittingly shifting
> our cherished values for the worse."


This is about the fourth time this has come around; I hope you can
understand that it's harder to credit "unwittingly" than if it were
the first.


> I voted to go with MP4 but my skepticism is high -- I'm still not satisfied
> we have deciphered all the legal aspects to our satisfaction:
> - Confusing consumer electronics MPEG-4 AT&T license for "personal and
> non-commercial activity" as brought up by User:Geni
> - Secret non-public licenses WMF would need to purchase, and the community
> wouldn't understand
> - What happens after 2016 when the secret license fees could arbitrarily
> rise?
> - What happens with CC-BY-SA MPEG-4 content downloaded from Commons if it's
> used in a commercial setting? Have we sprung a surprise gotcha on creators
> of derivative works?
> These are not easy, but I'd like to explore them, cautiously, even for a
> limited trial.


WMF has been very bad at making "limited trials" that are in fact
limited. (We're been in the "limited trial" of anons not being able to
create articles on en:wp since 2007, for instance.)


- d.