The latest Shiretoko (Firefox 3.1 development codename) nightly comes with an expected and very welcomed feature: support for the HTML5 Embed data- attribute specification <audio> and <video> tags that will allow web developers to easily (<video src=”myfile.ogg”></video>) add rich content without the need of proprietary plugins.

While the support for the <video> tag is pretty codec-neutral (you can use whatever video format you want provided you have the correct codec), Mozilla’s implementation makes it even easier by bundling Ogg Theora and Vorbis codecs ensuring developers a format to deliver.

However, there is a risk to bundling even an open source codec like Theora because of the possibility of submarine patents -patents nobody knows about until a product that unknowingly infringes it, succeeds, becoming a target for the patent owner who will seek monetary compensation and a good licensing agreement.

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