Hi Derek,
Re: the Cisco CODEC, it isn't really open source, they're just going to pay the licence holders for the parts of the h.264 specification that they're using and absorb the cost (i.e. pass it on to their clients and customers). It's more than likely a stop-gap measure until an open source solution comes along. However, MPEG LA, the H.264 licence holders, are likely to fight tooth and nail to preserve their market share. I'd expect a lot of litigation along the way and attempts to bankrupt open source CODEC projects that might compete with them.
So yeah, "More on the video codec wars" seems like an appropriate title.