MPEG-4 set for launch

MPEG LA, a group of patent holders governing MPEG-4, on Monday finalized licensing terms for the media delivery standard, bowing to market pressure for manageable royalty rates.

"We've met a lot of the concerns that have been expressed in the marketplace," said Lawrence Horn, spokesman for the group, which represents 18 patent holders that have claims on underlying MPEG-4 technology. "We've built a licensing model that's usable in the industry."

Under the new terms, owners of Web site content can license the latest video and audio compression format for 25 cents per subscriber or 2 cents per hour, subject to a $1 million annual cap. Also, MPEG LA set a minimum threshold so that content owners with fewer than 50,000 subscribers aren't subject to royalties. The fees are applicable to Web site operators that benefit commercially from use of the technology, through either paid advertisements, pay-per-view services or subscriptions

MPEG-4 is the successor to MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, the technologies behind the MP3 audio explosion. Like its predecessors, MPEG-4 comprises audio and video technologies that condense large digital files into smaller ones that can be easily transferred via the Web

News source: ZDNet