[Asterisk-Users] Asterisk Interface to propriotary system and GPL

[Gilad Ben-Yossef]

Shahed wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I am wondering if I will be breaking the GPL,
> if I write for example, a channel driver or
> make some modifications to the astrisk source code,
> to interface at RUN TIME, through sockets, with
> a proprietary system.


First, a warning - I am NOT a lawyer. I don't play one on TV, either and 
you really need a lawyer to answer this question.

Having said that...

The real testing which matter is whether your socket layer + propritery 
stuff + Asterisk is considered "derived work" of Asterisk. This is the 
the ONLY test that really matters.

In most circumstances known to me, if you communicate with the 
propritery engine via sockets, even if you wrote the layer for this 
yourself, you are not creating a dervied work anymore then using 
Asterisk to communicate via SIP to some propritery SIP server/gateway 
makes a propritery work from the SIP gateway and Asterisk, so you're OK 
legally.

Having said that, and reminding you again that you really need to ask a 
layer, you should consider two other issues:

1. Moral issue - being legal does no make it moral.
2. Perfomace issues.


And why really not make your propritery code wrapper talk some VoIP 
protocol and be done with it anyway?

Gilad