An Encoder Is Not A State Machine
What’s most atrocious to me about VP8 is that open-source has trumped clarity, implementability, and standardization. VP8 apparently only exists as a code-base, not as a technical standard that could, at least in theory, be re-implemented by a third party.
Chris's argument about a why WebM isn't open in the sense that it's almost impossible to come with another implementation of it because of the awful spec is a very good one. The one about people not worrying about paying royalties isn't bad, but I know at least one project for which the H.264 codec licensing terms were a real problem so I can't fully agree with that one.
It remains that patented technologies makes the use of open-source software much harder. I'm happy to see some people fight for the rights to freely modify, recompile, and use your own software, even if it's only with a half-baked specification.