Like most collectivists, you fail to recognize that the power to lead collective action is almost uniformly commandeered by special interests, with the supposed collective benefits corrupted to benefit only those with the power to make decisions "for the rest of us".
What works in the real world is free agents doing business with each other on fair terms, with transparency, oversight, and no fingers on the scale.
On2 developed a competitive codec, taking pains to avoid MPEG patents. Google acquired that technology. In a fair market, VPx and H264 could battle it out and the best value proposition would win. Even if H264 is marginally better from a technical perspective in some cases, VPx has the advantage of being free of licensing restrictions and royalties.
But instead of letting this play out fairly in a free market, the MPEG dudes decided to play rough. They used their antitrust get-out-of-jail card for the exact opposite reason it exists -- to attempt to intimidate the market with FUD, and squash potential competition before it gained a foothold.
Unfortunately for them, in the new order Google just has more money, lawyers, and smarts than the old guard, so they won the battle. But this is not the way things should have to go -- the market should be free and open. State-sponsored "standards" simply stifle innovation and provide lock-in for the power players lucky enough to have a place at the table early on.
Comments
Like most collectivists, you fail to recognize that the power to lead collective action is almost uniformly commandeered by special interests, with the supposed collective benefits corrupted to benefit only those with the power to make decisions "for the rest of us".
What works in the real world is free agents doing business with each other on fair terms, with transparency, oversight, and no fingers on the scale.
On2 developed a competitive codec, taking pains to avoid MPEG patents. Google acquired that technology. In a fair market, VPx and H264 could battle it out and the best value proposition would win. Even if H264 is marginally better from a technical perspective in some cases, VPx has the advantage of being free of licensing restrictions and royalties.
But instead of letting this play out fairly in a free market, the MPEG dudes decided to play rough. They used their antitrust get-out-of-jail card for the exact opposite reason it exists -- to attempt to intimidate the market with FUD, and squash potential competition before it gained a foothold.
Unfortunately for them, in the new order Google just has more money, lawyers, and smarts than the old guard, so they won the battle. But this is not the way things should have to go -- the market should be free and open. State-sponsored "standards" simply stifle innovation and provide lock-in for the power players lucky enough to have a place at the table early on.