At least until 2015, you won't need a license unless you're distributing commercial content to other end users or building an H.264 encoder. And the MPEG-LA has agreed to never charge anyone for watching free videos, so Youtube viewers will never get shaken down. http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/04/know-your-rights-h-264-pa... Maybe after 2015, they will start collecting royalties on commercial decoders.