Google Supports Theora!

After the numerous bad things I've said about Google and their gradual backslide into the dark side of software freedom, the timing of this announcement is sobering:

http://www.osnews.com/story/23135/Google_Puts_Weight_Behind_Theora_on_Mobile

Google comes out in support of Theora video because it is an entirely free and open standard, and they've already included native support for HTML5 video in their browser. And they're going to fund a project called TheorARM to optimize performance of Theora on mobile devices with ARM processors.

Now, certainly they're not doing this for altruistic reasons. They're doing this to more strongly position themselves against Apple and avoid having to pay Apple's royalty fees, and basically to cover all bases (the same reason they bundle Flash with Chrome, mind you). All the browsers are moving to HTML5, and Theora's totally open and patent-free nature, to say nothing of its beautiful performance, makes it a clear choice. But it's a step in the right direction, and will get us that much closer to a fully free internet that is accessible to anyone.