It's possible there are Microsoft employees who could switch hats and
support open standards - John Sullivan of Microsoft Research who
headed the AVC standardisation effort wouldn't have any credibility
problems. As it happens, Mr. Hugger's former job included blocking
open standards; it's merely reasonable to question his commitment on
that subject. I wouldn't expect him to have any experience in building
standards-based architectures, either. Nothing personal in that, it's
just the way Microsoft functions. Their overriding goal is to maximise
revenue using lockin; they do this by interlocking proprietary
components ("tying" in the parlance of the EU DG-Competition). They
sometimes embrace standards, but only when weak in a market; that's
why WMP supports AVC/AAC on Xbox but not under Windows.Can Mr. Huggers make the switch from working for shareholders to working for licence fee payers? It's certainly possible and I do give him the benefit of the doubt. But actions speak louder than, etc. The best outcome is for Huggers to fulfill his January promise and promote open standards. Dirac is a perfect candidate in this regard particularly now that the bitstream has been frozen. I am aware of only one argument against its use: it is not included in Windows. Were Huggers to arrange that, concerns about his commitment would disappear overnight. The real challenge for him is to deep-six DRM, which is the source of the BBC's PC video client interoperability problems; technical "protection" measures don't work. That requires a leadership role to work with rights holders. It probably involves fundamental changes in the talent remuneration structure. I don't underestimate the difficulty. But as a public broadcaster the BBC is perhaps uniquely positioned to meet that challenge. Sean. - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
