MPEG LA, a body that provides joint licenses for MPEG-2 (used in DVDs, digital TV broadcasts, etc) technology has proposed a new licensing model for MPEG-4 (used in streamig video apps and is also the core of DivX and WMV video formats) video technology. MPEG LA's licenses cover various companies' patents -- MPEG LA's idea is to be a one place where company can license all the required patents to use in company's products, such as MPEG-2 decoders.
The new proposed MPEG-4 pricing (at least for decoders) would be cheaper than MPEG-2's price, but the proposed "use fee" where service providers would pay licensing fees based on the time of the streamed/encoded content, has raised concerns among the content providers and ISPs.
