Re: [Ekiga-list] ekiga and x264

[jtd <jtd mtnl net in>]

On Monday 19 July 2010 00:00:00 Michal Svoboda wrote:
> Eugen Dedu wrote:
> > non-free software
>
> Are you talking about x264 or something else? Because GPL seems
> quite free to me.

gpl V2 covers copyrights, not patents. The writer of the code may  or 
may not own the patent. The owner of the patent has to explicitly 
grant you rights to the use of the patent, In this case the MPEG-LA 
consortium.
GPL V3 covers the case of patents explicitly.
One could duke it out in the courts (and most likely win) if the code 
writer is the patent holder. Otherwise you are in for some serious 
damages. Heck a law suit means money down the drain anyway.

Besides, my (and  several others) "tests" show that theora provides a 
better picture quality at a slightly more bandwidth. So, except for 
the case of compatibility with equipment not having theora, it should 
not make a difference.


-- 
Rgds
JTD