WebM Fake MP3 Files

The WebM format is an audio format controlled by Google (not a good sign). The WebM file format was initially developed as an open source media format by On2, Xiph and Matroska released initially in 2010. Google later sponsored the development of the WebM project, while adding support to the Google Chrome browser.

Traditional MP3 Files are NOT WebM format. Example traditional mp3 file data:

Audio file with ID3 version 2.4.0, contains: MPEG ADTS, layer III, v1, 320 kbps, 44.1 kHz, Stereo

Recently files with an .mp3 extension have been appearing that can not be played with traditional mp3 software. Even VLC is refusing to play these .mp3 files.

Simple investigation using the 'file' command reveals that these FAKE MP3 Files are WebM format. These are not Standard MP3 Files and SHOULD NOT HAVE the MP3 extension.

Correct WebM Extension -- .webm

WebM is a container format (with the file ending *.webm) for multimedia files. WebM is designed for use with HTML5. The codecs VP8 and VP9 have been designed in such a way that there is a lot of compression.

The source of these fake MP3 file is mostly coming from Android Apps claiming to perform the function of downloading mp3 music files for you.

WebM is just a container format and can contain both video and audio. It can be used for audio-only purposes as well as long as the audio is encoded as Vorbis or Opus.

Legal -- WebM has since become a political issue within the online community. While Google is making every effort to establish the audio/video format, other major market participants such as Apple or Microsoft continue to use formats such as MP4. The main reason for this are the patent laws: both of these software companies are part of the MPEG-LA patent pool, as they hold patents for the codecs used and receive license fees for them. Google is attempting to get around these patents by using WebM.

In the past, this has led to various legal problems in Germany, for example. The issue was with the VP8 codec. Several companies complained that the codec was violating their patents. Google subsequently came to an agreement with MPEG LA. However, Nokia is not part of the patent pool and is of the opinion that its rights have been violated. An initial case, in which the company sued its competitor HTC, whose devices support V8, was dismissed by Mannheim district court in the south of Germany.