[Asterisk-Users] G729 licenses

[Chris Travers]

Kevin Walsh wrote:

>Andreas Sikkema [andreas.sikkema at ritstele.com] wrote:
>  
>
>>asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>There are a few codecs, other than G.729, that you may not have
>>>heard of.  These include GSM, iLBC and SpeeX, to name a few.
>>>Paying for G.729 licenses, however cheap they may appear, only
>>>encourages the monopolists.
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>The problem being that those are not supported by the devices we
>>use. Unfortunately we don't have the influence (yet?) to change
>>that.
>>
>>    
>>
>And you will never have that influence if you continue to encourage
>the G.729 monopolists.
>
>  
>
I am going to jump in here.  I think that it is clear from looking at 
the history of software and computer hardware that the market is 
competitive enough that systems which are heavily encumbered by 
licensing restrictions will always lose to systems which are not.  We 
can remember IBM's Microchannel Architecture and GIF as the great 
examples of what happens to heavily patented technologies (even in 
environments where open source has not taken off yet).  The reason is 
simple economics and beyond the scope of this discussion except to say 
that such restrictions cause additional production costs with vendors 
would rather avoid.  Unless the patented technology is *so much better* 
than its competitors to deliver enough value to make up for these 
restrictions, it is simply not competitive.  As other technologies are 
getting better too, patented technologies cannot generally remain 
competitive through even most of their useful life.   Therefore these 
technologies die, and this is why patents which are valid for more than, 
say, 5 years end up hurting innovation and stifling the software economy 
(not just open source).

It is quite possible that when G.729 came out, it did provide compelling 
value.  However, this has changed.  I think we will start to see more 
devices supporting GSM, Speex, etc. in the near future, and G.729 will 
be eventually relegated to "legacy support."

My suggestion to people is "Don't buy new equipment requiring G.729."  
You may still need licenses for equipment you already have, but you 
don't want to be tied to a technology which is beginning to die.

Best Wishes,
Chris travers
Metatron Technology Consulting
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: chris.vcf
Type: text/x-vcard
Size: 127 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/attachments/20040902/45072667/chris.vcf