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Thank you for starting a dedicated thread about it as I originally requested! Keep this civil and do not discuss forum rules or their interpretation and we can have a fine discussion about it.
The truth is this:
FFMPEG is in violation. They are a supplier of AVC decoders to end users and so are subject to MPEGLA licensing.
A licensed supplier that happens to supply FFMPEG cannot pass its license backwards to FFMPEG. If FFMPEG supplies to end users, it must be licensed, period. And it makes no difference whether they supply the decoder free. This was personally told to me today by telephone by Ryan Rodriguez, a licensing agent for MPEGLA.
Since FFMPEG supplies decoders directly to end users via its download page, it must be licensed by MPEGLA. Of course if they want to fight the patent pool on other grounds, good luck with that.
*** EDIT: As seen below, the FFMPEG project is *not* in violation, to the extent that they do not supply binaries, because source code is not a "product". I am sorry for my incorrect statement about this (which originated from a not fully clear phone conversation with MPEGLA), and for any confusion/bad feelings it may have engendered. ***
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