[Asterisk-Users] g729 status in New Zealand

[trixter aka Bret McDanel]

On Wed, 2005-11-16 at 13:21 +1100, David Uzzell wrote:
> trixter aka Bret McDanel wrote:
> > On Wed, 2005-11-16 at 13:22 +1300, Richard Malcolm-Smith wrote:
> > 
> >>As far as I was aware a license was only required in contries that had software 
> >>patents, I know that there arnt here so I am just seeking clarification if thats 
> >>all there is to it.
> > 
> 
> 
> I say just all get over it. The lic cost is Cheap. I did not want to
> have to buy lic for the codec but I did when I had my server in a Data
> Centre. Now I have it at home on my DSL I am not even using the g729
> codec anymore cause lan bandwidth is not a issue for me. I don't even
> have it loaded cause I don't want to waste one of the MAC changes cause
> I am in the process of getting a new server.
> 
well mac based auth is trivial to bypass, many drivers on many systems
support mac address changing.  But that isnt the point, it may be cheap
for small users, but look at vonage who has passed 1 million customers.
At $10/license lets say that 7% of their users are on the phone at any
given time using g.729 (ok that is prolly high but ...)  that is $700k.
Lets say that vonage uses a VoIP provider (like global crossing
provides) for most of their routes (I know they have some pris in NJ but
its unclear what percentage they use those).  That doubles the cost to
$1.4M.  I understand that is a high estimate and would probably be less
than half that, so lets go ahead and fudge the math a bit and say they
need $500k worth of licenses (25k calls at a time using G.729 for a 1
million customer user base).

In the grand scheme of things odds are they wouldnt do this because of
the cpu overhead required, but that isnt what most people would consider
'cheap'.  Looking at a hobby system or a small VoIP provider it may be
cheap but when you think about some of the larger providers it can be a
daunting cost.

That however isnt the point.  the question asked was whether or not its
legally enforcable in a given jurisdiction.  Trying to change it from
that to something else is a questionable tactic, especially when you try
to do so by confusing a small hobby system or a small time provider with
a larger one.

> It is not as if the Lic Fee is $100 per lic or anything that nasty, it
> is $10 per channel. If that is used for your personal use then you would
> likely own need a couple so it is not expensive. And if it is for
> business and you need many and you can't afford to cover the cost's of
> the codec then you shouldn't be in business.
> 
See above $500k isnt that common in spare cash.  Hell even 10% of that
isnt that common in a startup in spare cash.  Remember all the other
costs would have been accounted for for them to be in business, so that
would be extra on top of all those other costs.  

-- 
Trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com     Bret McDanel
UK +44 870 340 4605   Germany +49 801 777 555 3402
US +1 360 207 0479 or +1 516 687 5200
FreeWorldDialup: 635378
http://www.sacaug.org/ Sacramento Asterisk Users Group
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