Xiph.Org Foundation
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| Founded | 1994 |
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| Founder | Christopher Montgomery |
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Location | |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
| Products | Free multimedia formats, libraries, and streaming software |
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Key people
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Christopher Montgomery, Jack Moffitt, Ralph Giles (Theora), Jean-Marc Valin (Speex, CELT, Opus), Josh Coalson (FLAC), Michael Smith, Timothy B. Terriberry |
| Website | xiph |
Xiph.Org Foundation is a non-profit organization that produces free multimedia formats and software tools. It focuses on the Ogg family of formats, and the most successful one has been Vorbis, an open and freely licensed audio format and codec designed to compete with the patented WMA, MP3 and AAC. As of 2013, the current development work is focusing on Daala, an open and patent-free video format and codec designed to compete with the patented High Efficiency Video Coding and VP9.
In addition to its in-house development work, the Foundation has also brought several already-existing but complementary free software projects under its aegis, most of which have a separate, active group of developers. These include Speex, an audio codec designed for speech, and FLAC, a lossless audio codec.
The Xiph.Org Foundation has criticized Microsoft and the RIAA for their lack of openness. They state that if companies like Microsoft owned patents on the Internet, then other companies would try to compete, and "The Net, as designed by warring corporate entities, would be a battleground of incompatible and expensive 'standards' had it actually survived at all." They also condemn the RIAA for their support of projects such as Secure Digital Music Initiative.
In 2008, the Free Software Foundation listed the Xiph.Org projects as High Priority Free Software Projects.
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