[FSFE PR][EN] [GNU/FSF Press] No double standards: supporting Google's push for WebM

peter brown peterb at fsf.org
Wed Jan 19 05:37:22 CET 2011


## FSF Announces Support for WebM Project, Encourages Adoption

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, January 19, 2011 -- The Free 
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced that it is officially 
supporting the WebM Project, and is encouraging Web site operators to 
migrate any H.264-encoded video they have to WebM.

The full FSF announcement, "No double standards: supporting Google's 
push for WebM" is available on its web site at 
<http://www.fsf.org/news/supporting-webm>.

"Google has been working to bring together a broad coalition of 
organizations to support WebM, which will go far to help it become the 
video codec of choice with HTML5," explained Brett Smith, license 
compliance engineer for the Free Software Foundation.  "We want the 
world to know that we also support WebM: with its developer-friendly 
patent license and free software reference implementation, it's a good 
choice to help ensure the Web fulfills its promise of providing a free 
way for the world to communicate."

FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "We applaud Google's effort in 
not only making WebM available for implementation by free software, but 
also in promoting its reasons for deprecating the use of H.264. Now is 
the time to act. Through joint community effort in support of WebM, we 
can sustain the vision of the Web as free and unencumbered."

Google released the WebM video codec in May 2010. Unlike its competitor 
H.264, developers who support WebM in their software do not have to 
agree to a patent license that requires royalty payments, or limits how 
developers license their own software.


### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting 
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute 
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as 
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its 
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF 
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of 
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org 
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. 
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith
License Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18

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