HD DVD is dead, long live HD DVD

The HD wars are nearly over, and it appears that Blu-Ray is going to be the winner. That's too bad, as the HD-DVD format was, in my mind, the superior one. But what happens to it now? I ran across this interesting suggestion:

Don't throw it away... Recycle it...
by FellowConspirator (882908)

If it's a commercial failure, then why bury it. Just make the spec, tools, etc. free without license. There's a huge market for a low-cost high-capacity storage and video medium. Toshiba could make HD-DVD free to everyone. Blu-Ray can't beat that. Sure, the MPAA members will only ship Blu-Ray, but if it costs nothings to add to your drive, why wouldn't a vendor throw it on top just because. Home video and amateur cinematographers will have a reasonable format for producing, sharing, and storing footage, there'll be an HD replacement for VHS, and the cost for the blank media will plummet.

Then let's see who wins in the long run. Toshiba can still ship HD-DVD recorders, media, etc. Being fully open, the platform will reach every corner that Blu-Ray doesn't, by design. Blu-Ray is a very consumer-hostile format as-is; it's designed to limit the medium. Toshiba should give up not by burying it, but by becoming the antithesis of its competitor.

As a FOSS nerd (and all that implies), I find this idea incredibly intriguing.