The argument, I suppose, is that even with the filtering removed, Chromium itself still doesn't directly include any of the offending codecs, so it still isn't treading on any patents – ffmpeg might potentially be.

And as for the system on which such a modified Chromium is installed… Well, if the system's administrator saw fit to install ffmpeg with its full slate of patent-encumbered codecs intact, then she should have already been aware of the patent situation, and had decided that either:
1) She has already separately purchased/obtained a legitimate license for the H.264 decoder included in ffmpeg, or
2) She lives in a jurisdiction where she thinks H.264 either isn't patented, or any such patent is invalid, or
3) She doesn't care that she's violating the patent.

The argument, I suppose, is that even with the filtering removed, Chromium itself still doesn't directly include any of the offending codecs, so it still isn't treading on any patents – ffmpeg might potentially be.

And as for the system on which such a modified Chromium is installed… Well, if the system's administrator saw fit to install ffmpeg with its full slate of patent-encumbered codecs intact, then she should have already been aware of the patent situation, and had decided that either:
1) She has already separately purchased/obtained a legitimate license for the H.264 decoder included in ffmpeg, or
2) She lives in a jurisdiction where she thinks H.264 either isn't patented, or any such patent is invalid, or
3) She doesn't care that she's violating the patent.

As someone tried to point out above, this isn't true. Webkit's 'ports' (that's Safari, Chrome, Qt, Gtk, etc) are provided with the raw streams from the media engine in Webkit, and it is up to them what to do with it. Safari passes it to Quicktime, which can decode H.264. Chrome passes it to ffmpeg, which can decode H.264 in Chrome-not-Chromium. I think Gtk passes it to Gstreamer, and Qt has its own thing.

The point is that there is NO H.264 decoding in Webkit, That would be a violation of the MPEG-LA's patents. For Firefox to do something similar to that setup they would have to become closed-source like Safari and Chrome-not-Chromium. I don't see Mozilla crossing that big red line, no matter what anyone says.

As someone tried to point out above, this isn't true. Webkit's 'ports' (that's Safari, Chrome, Qt, Gtk, etc) are provided with the raw streams from the media engine in Webkit, and it is up to them what to do with it. Safari passes it to Quicktime, which can decode H.264. Chrome passes it to ffmpeg, which can decode H.264 in Chrome-not-Chromium. I think Gtk passes it to Gstreamer, and Qt has its own thing.

The point is that there is NO H.264 decoding in Webkit, That would be a violation of the MPEG-LA's patents. For Firefox to do something similar to that setup they would have to become closed-source like Safari and Chrome-not-Chromium. I don't see Mozilla crossing that big red line, no matter what anyone says.

You appear to work for a company that distributes H.264 media. Do any of your customers distribute video for business reasons, say recordings of business seminars? What do you tell them about those viewing via Flash that only have licence to view the video for personal and non-commercial reasons?

You appear to work for a company that distributes H.264 media. Do any of your customers distribute video for business reasons, say recordings of business seminars? What do you tell them about those viewing via Flash that only have licence to view the video for personal and non-commercial reasons?

Webkit passes on the responsibility for purchasing H.264 patent licences to any end-user or project that builds on it.

Firefox passes on Theora code that can be used freely by anyone, for any purpose.

This is why even the mighty Google doesn't support H.264 in Chromium, its webkit based, open source browser, but only in Chrome. And even in Chrome you can only use the H.264 for personal and non-commercial use.

Webkit passes on the responsibility for purchasing H.264 patent licences to any end-user or project that builds on it.

Firefox passes on Theora code that can be used freely by anyone, for any purpose.

This is why even the mighty Google doesn't support H.264 in Chromium, its webkit based, open source browser, but only in Chrome. And even in Chrome you can only use the H.264 for personal and non-commercial use.