News Categories
Latest News
News Archive
|
|
Google urged to ditch Flash for YouTube video productions FSF says Google should use free formats to lift restrictions created by Adobe's Flash.
YouTube owners Google have been urged to stop using Flash as the principal format for its video productions.
Instead it is being encouraged to use free codecs such as VP8, the one created by On2 - a company Google recently purchased.
The call comes from the Free Software Foundation (FSF) which in an open letter to the search engine giant claimed that if Google took the step to offer an alternative to Flash, it would force others to do the same.
"The world would have a new free format unencumbered by software patents. Viewers, video creators, free software developers, hardware makers - everyone -would have another way to distribute video without patents, fees, and restrictions," it said.
It follows Apple's decision to ditch Adobe's format for its new iPad, forcing developers to create Flash-free applications.
"You could do the same with YouTube...and it would be a death-blow to Flash's dominance in web video," the FSF argued.
YouTube recently added HTML5 support to its experimental TestTube site, which allows videos to be played in internet browsers rather than through Flash.
Posted by Anthony Roberts
|
|