[Asterisk-video] libavcodec integration? (was Integrating mpeg4video codec in asterisk)

[John Martin]

Maybe I can add a bit more to the patent issues: 

H.261 is often not a problem and rarely comes up in patent discussions
I've had with lawyers. 

H.263 is the big problem with patents. There is a consortium of around
half a dozen companies that have created a patent pool for H.263. You
are supposed to pay a fee (perhaps as little as a dollor) into the
patent pool whenever a system is shipped with H.263, and there are
companies that will take your money and indemnify you against any IP
infringement. Though I'm not sure how that works if it's a server and
not an endpoint.

H.264 is supposed to be patent free, though there are issues surrounding
the opensource code and whatever rights they have imposed on their
copyright.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: asterisk-video-bounces at lists.digium.com
[mailto:asterisk-video-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of SteveK
Sent: 14 June 2006 15:52
To: Development discussion of video media support in Asterisk
Subject: Re: [Asterisk-video] libavcodec integration? (was Integrating
mpeg4video codec in asterisk)


On Jun 14, 2006, at 10:15 AM, Roy Sigurd Karlsbakk wrote:

> hi
>
> is there a licence problem with integrating libavcodec (http:// 
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libavcodec) into asterisk? This is licensed  
> under LGPL so AFAICS it should be compatible with the asterisk  
> system. this'll allow us to transcode video between lots of formats  
> and codecs :)

The issues are:

1) not all of it is LGPL;  some of it is GPL, including many of the  
most interesting parts (x264, for example).
2) Patents:  You can't actually use most of it because of patent  
issues, and because of the GPL/LGPL patent clauses, you can't  
distribute the code along with a Patent License unless you License  
all potential users of the code.

So, I'm guessing you'd see the same resistance to that that you have  
with the Intel voice codec implementations.

-SteveK


>
> roy
>
> On Jun 14, 2006, at 3:34 PM, John Martin wrote:
>
>> Zeeshan,
>>
>>   Asterisk doesn't do anything with video at the moment, it only  
>> passes video from either file to an IP port or from one IP port to  
>> another. Therefore, there are no codecs in Asterisk. There are  
>> ways of getting H.261, H.263 and H.264 into file formats that  
>> Asterisk will recognise (through GStreamer for instance) but that  
>> is performed outside of Asterisk.
>>
>>
>>
>> John Martin
>>
>>
>> From: asterisk-video-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk- 
>> video-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Khawaja Zeeshan
>> Sent: 14 June 2006 13:46
>> To: asterisk-video at lists.digium.com
>> Subject: [Asterisk-video] Integrating mpeg4 video codec in asterisk
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I need help. I intend to integrate mpeg4 codec in asterisk. Does  
>> asterisk support any video codecs currently? If yes why it is not  
>> in the "codecs" folder?
>>
>> Moreover can anyone please tell me how a codec is invoked when  
>> asterisk receives an incoming call or sends an outgong call?
>>
>> I shall be very grateful if someone can help me.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Zeeshan
>>
>>
>>
>> Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! MSN Messenger  
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>>
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> --
> Roy Sigurd Karlsbakk
> roy at karlsbakk.net
> (+47) 98013356
> ---
> "Ubuntu: Ancient African word for ''I'm sick of compiling Gentoo''"  
> -- Jeff Waugh
>
>
>
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