Mozilla to integrate H.264

Mozilla is about to start supporting the H.264 video codec into FireFox.

 The CODEC allows online videos utilizing H.264 format to run. Mozilla has been avoiding H.264 support since it is proprietary, riddled with patents, and requires Mozilla to purchase a license for millions of Dollars from MPEG-LA.

Mozilla has been trying to push for standards alternative to H.264, such as WebM, and the VP8 format. It had originally planned its push for an H.264-free web at a time when it was a much stronger player in the web-browser market, which now sees a strong presence of Google Chrome, which already features H.264.

The organisation suggested that it had been pushed into adopting the standard, which it said is patent laden, and assured its users and developers that it would never charge for its software as a result.

"Mozilla is on the cusp of changing our policy about our use of video codecs and making use of a format known as 'H.264.' We have tried to avoid this for a number of years, as H.264 is encumbered by patents," wrote Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation in a blog post.

"The state of video on the Web today and in mobile devices in particular is pushing us to change our policy."

Baker said that the firm resisted the move because it wants to build products that people 'love', and added that using standards that are encumbered by patents does not support this.

"We've declined to adopt a technology that improves user experience in the hopes this will bring greater user sovereignty. Not many would try this strategy, but we did," she added.

"It's time to shift our weighting. It's time to focus on shipping products people can love now, and to work on developing a new tactic for bringing unencumbered technology to the world of audio and video codecs."