[Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents

[John Todd]

At 2:43 PM -0700 10/4/05, trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote:
>
>Sprint Nextel is sueing vonage, voiceglo and theglobe.com for infringing
>on VoIP patents.  Sprint Nextel claims to have about 100 patents on VoIP
>technologies.  Does anyone know which ones this article is talking
>about, and if so does asterisk have any of those features? 
>
>The reason I am asking is that the article is vague, Vonage uses a
>fairly standard codec set, I dont know about the others.  So if its not
>codecs I wonder if its something so generic that the patent would be
>tossed out upon challenge. 
>
>Anyone thinking about doing a VoIP business may want to get more info
>before proceeding since they may not have the millinos vonage has to
>fight this.
>
>http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2005/10/03/daily23.html
>--
>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



This perhaps is quite relevant to the Asterisk community.

While I don't know the specifics about Vonage, I do know that they 
have been rumored to have (in the past, or present) used Asterisk in 
their core for some services.  (Voicemail?  Conference?  Messages?) 
This, however, is not confirmed.

http://www.ilocus.com/ui_dataFiles/news18aug05.htm
http://www.google.com/search?num=50&hl=en&lr=&newwindow=1&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22&btnG=Search

According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk:

  http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/036311.html
  http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1059204,00.html

FYI: Voiceglo and theglobe.com are the same company for all intents 
and purposes.

Therefore, I am very interested to see if this is merely 
co-incidental or if there is a reason that Sprint picked out two 
providers that use Asterisk in their core.  Despite hysteria or 
misinformation on this (and other) lists, there is no direct 
information that I've seen that this is Sprint making a blanket 
patent lawsuit against anyone using VoIP.  Perhaps this is just some 
specific feature that they have a legitimate patent on which has been 
infringed.  I doubt this is a codec patent issue, nor an equipment 
patent issue (as previously discussed on -biz list.)

Is there anyone with better detail on the lawsuit specifics able to comment?

JT