The times have changed though, and the IETF is now receptive to this type of work (although it didn't happen without a political battle). Note that many of the Opus contributors are Xiph.org contributors as well.
Microsoft(and probably Apple too) pays more than what it gets from the pool, so that doesn't make sense.
And everything to do with VP8/WebM being a proprietary, non standard at the time that the world consolidated on H.264. That and the fact that H.264 had hardware support when the iPods and Zunes were taking off.
How is a codec I can download in complete source form and use in any way I like without licensing anything or answering to anybody "proprietary"?
The fact that we live in a world full of patent trolls that will sue you for tying your shoelaces doesn't make every codebase without explicit corporate patent indemnity "proprietary".
The WebM trademarks and copyright are owned by Google.
Yes you have a license to use WebM as it is today. But Google can make the next version closed source and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. And of course companies are going to use Google's 'official' WebM regardless if it is open or closed source leaving you screwed.
