The news this week of Google's open-source release of the HD video codec VP8 plays into the ongoing debate over which video codec browsers can use to display high-definition video without a plug-in, such as Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight.

Google plans to acquire video and VoIP (Voice over IP) codec developer Global IP Solutions (GIPS) for approximately 421 million Norwegian kronor (US$68.2 million) in cash, the company said on Tuesday.

In an open letter to Google, the Free Software Foundation has urged Google to open source a video codec that it acquired in its purchase of On2, completed Monday.

The latest rewrite of the Web's mother tongue won't recommend the use of specific audio and video encoding formats that could make it cheaper and easier for people to distribute multimedia content.