Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
On Sun, 9 Oct 2005, C F wrote: Reading the patents and the comments written here, I couldn't resist Could you provide the patent numbers? -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- - - - Jason Pyeron PD Inc. http://www.pdinc.us - - Partner Sr. Manager 7 West 24th Street #100 - - +1 (443) 921-0381 Baltimore, Maryland 21218 - - - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. If you have received it in error, purge the message from your system and notify the sender immediately. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited. ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Reading the patents and the comments written here, I couldn't resist and had to make this comment (ouch it's Sunday again): We should patent dugy style, and when Sprint screws Verizon from the back, sue them both for patent infringement. On 10/7/05, Rich Adamson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I wouldn't think anyone would consider Sprint a dying company. They just acquired Nextel so they've got money to spend. Maybe as an ILEC (which they are here in Ohio) they are viewing Vonage and Voiceglo as a force that needs to be stopped to prevent further eroding of their POTS network. I know that I cost SBC money when I dropped them for Vonage. They aren't getting the $$ for that line installed to my home anymore. (Which makes me downright giddy when I think about it.) Imagine if my whole neighborhood switched after SBC had built-out facilities... that would cost SBC a lot of money. They put those POTS lines in counting on them being active and producing income for a long time. Even if service is provided by a CLEC, the line makes money for the ILEC. But if the line is switched off before the payoff horizon, they lose money. Having been in the telephony business for a long time (and know a number of Sprint Corp employees), all telco's in the US are loosing lines (and associated revenue) primarily to Cellular, and a small amount to the Vonage-type services including those in the local cable business. Sprint's documents prior to the vote to merge with Nextel indicated their intent was to spin off the local telco's, with the longer range intent of selling them or trading for other non-telco properties. Two large US communications companies reportedly are interested in discussing such deals with Sprint/Nextel. The merger with Nextel is suppose to be creating a very competitive cellular business, with lots of economies to be gained from consolidating tower space/rental (duplicate facilities on the same tower in many locations) and from duplicate staffs. Sprint's long distance sub was basically converted to voip a long time ago, but that LD network was managed as a closed/internal network that most customers had no direct access to. That network still exists, but its primarily carrying internal traffic including PCS cellular traffic. You can guess what it will be used for with the merged PCS and Nextel facilities. Their stated intent includes the delivery of other digital services to customers, but they've not tipped their hat (publicly) as to what those services might consist of just yet. Obviously, their customer base will look completely different then what it is today, and will likely be focused on a much larger population after the local telco spin off. As a consulting group, our company has been working with several smaller telcos. Some already have the fiber facilities in place (even in their largely rural serving areas) to provide digital tv signals to every single customer. The majority are also deploying voip to any of their customers that want it. And, a few are waiting for the WiMax stuff to settle down before they deploy that as well. (The smaller telcos are far more nibble then the big 10.) Rich ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
At 12:05 PM -0700 10/5/05, John Todd wrote: 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2coff=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=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 To answer my own question: no, it doesn't seem like there is anything Asterisk-specific in the suit. It seems that Sprint is claiming that they own the rights to pretty much any VoIP technology. Carry on, everyone; this will be thrown out with the rest of the garbage after Vonage and others spend huge amounts of time and effort staving off the frivolity lawyers. sigh JT ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
On Fri, 2005-10-07 at 01:34 -0700, John Todd wrote: To answer my own question: no, it doesn't seem like there is anything Asterisk-specific in the suit. It seems that Sprint is claiming that they own the rights to pretty much any VoIP technology. Carry on, everyone; this will be thrown out with the rest of the garbage after Vonage and others spend huge amounts of time and effort staving off the frivolity lawyers. sigh Is this just another dying company, like SCO, trying to give the impression it's still got something for investors. In SCO's case it appears nothing more than a pump and dump exercise. -- Dave Cotton [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
I wouldn't think anyone would consider Sprint a dying company. They just acquired Nextel so they've got money to spend. Maybe as an ILEC (which they are here in Ohio) they are viewing Vonage and Voiceglo as a force that needs to be stopped to prevent further eroding of their POTS network. I know that I cost SBC money when I dropped them for Vonage. They aren't getting the $$ for that line installed to my home anymore. (Which makes me downright giddy when I think about it.) Imagine if my whole neighborhood switched after SBC had built-out facilities... that would cost SBC a lot of money. They put those POTS lines in counting on them being active and producing income for a long time. Even if service is provided by a CLEC, the line makes money for the ILEC. But if the line is switched off before the payoff horizon, they lose money. Vonage just announced, with much fanfare, that they had hit 1 million lines. In the big scheme that isn't a lot, but that is still 1 million POTS lines that have been abandoned and are costing someone money. Maybe Sprint sees this as an opportunity to leverage their patents to stem the flow of people that are switching? It would explain the timing and why, if the patents have been around for 2, 3, or 4 years, that they are just now trying to enforce them. The lawsuit may be frivolous... Or maybe they are throwing the suit at Vonage Voiceglo thinking it may distract them enough to break some of their momentum... Or maybe Sprint has something, and if they get lucky, it goes their way and tosses the entire thing in the blender? Who knows? But I can't believe Sprint would pull a SCO and sue just to impress the investors. They don't really need to. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Dave Cotton Sent: Friday, October 07, 2005 4:57 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents On Fri, 2005-10-07 at 01:34 -0700, John Todd wrote: To answer my own question: no, it doesn't seem like there is anything Asterisk-specific in the suit. It seems that Sprint is claiming that they own the rights to pretty much any VoIP technology. Carry on, everyone; this will be thrown out with the rest of the garbage after Vonage and others spend huge amounts of time and effort staving off the frivolity lawyers. sigh Is this just another dying company, like SCO, trying to give the impression it's still got something for investors. In SCO's case it appears nothing more than a pump and dump exercise. -- Dave Cotton [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
I wouldn't think anyone would consider Sprint a dying company. They just acquired Nextel so they've got money to spend. Maybe as an ILEC (which they are here in Ohio) they are viewing Vonage and Voiceglo as a force that needs to be stopped to prevent further eroding of their POTS network. I know that I cost SBC money when I dropped them for Vonage. They aren't getting the $$ for that line installed to my home anymore. (Which makes me downright giddy when I think about it.) Imagine if my whole neighborhood switched after SBC had built-out facilities... that would cost SBC a lot of money. They put those POTS lines in counting on them being active and producing income for a long time. Even if service is provided by a CLEC, the line makes money for the ILEC. But if the line is switched off before the payoff horizon, they lose money. Having been in the telephony business for a long time (and know a number of Sprint Corp employees), all telco's in the US are loosing lines (and associated revenue) primarily to Cellular, and a small amount to the Vonage-type services including those in the local cable business. Sprint's documents prior to the vote to merge with Nextel indicated their intent was to spin off the local telco's, with the longer range intent of selling them or trading for other non-telco properties. Two large US communications companies reportedly are interested in discussing such deals with Sprint/Nextel. The merger with Nextel is suppose to be creating a very competitive cellular business, with lots of economies to be gained from consolidating tower space/rental (duplicate facilities on the same tower in many locations) and from duplicate staffs. Sprint's long distance sub was basically converted to voip a long time ago, but that LD network was managed as a closed/internal network that most customers had no direct access to. That network still exists, but its primarily carrying internal traffic including PCS cellular traffic. You can guess what it will be used for with the merged PCS and Nextel facilities. Their stated intent includes the delivery of other digital services to customers, but they've not tipped their hat (publicly) as to what those services might consist of just yet. Obviously, their customer base will look completely different then what it is today, and will likely be focused on a much larger population after the local telco spin off. As a consulting group, our company has been working with several smaller telcos. Some already have the fiber facilities in place (even in their largely rural serving areas) to provide digital tv signals to every single customer. The majority are also deploying voip to any of their customers that want it. And, a few are waiting for the WiMax stuff to settle down before they deploy that as well. (The smaller telcos are far more nibble then the big 10.) Rich ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Matt Riddell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: My comment was directed at the USPTO who grants patents on a regular basis with what seems like no effort to check for prior art. The first time I saw this I thought it was stupid. The second, unbelievable, and the 358456347563th one crazy! The life of a US patent clerk must be so boring. The greatest excitement they probably get is when they run out of ink for their approved rubber stamp. The USPO could probably outsource their approval process to a third-world sweat shop. If patent clerks were forced concentrate on their work, there would be no atomic bomb. -- _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/ K e v i n W a l s h _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/[EMAIL PROTECTED] _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/ ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote: 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. Unless of course they don't live in the United Sue'ers of America. :D -- Cheers, Matt Riddell ___ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss) ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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. Marvellous. Another company with a monopoly over aspects of VoIP technology. I don't have the millions required to mount a defence in a North American court, so I should just consider myself lucky that I live in a free country. -- _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/ _/_/_/_/_/ _/ K e v i n W a l s h _/ _/_/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/[EMAIL PROTECTED] _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/ ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Depending upon the patents in question, a few companies (Cisco comes to mind) may have prior art here. I know that a company cisco bought was doing VoIP in 1998, but no indications of which patents this is, or when they were filed. Paul 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 ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2coff=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=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 ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
I'll start with the disclaimer that I am not an attorney... nor do I play one on TV... But, a search of the US Patent Trademark Office reveals 13 patents assigned to Sprint that deal with VoIP. (http://www.uspto.gov/) 6947411 6944150 6937869 6909690 6870857 6868081 6865398 6741695 6731735 6697097 6681116 6556826 6373930 Of particular interest are the '9690, '4150, '1695, '3930 patents. '9690 is a patent on call admission control using silence suppression to better utilize network bandwidth. Specifically, it seems to deal with a method to apply adaptive silence suppression at the customer site... presumably in the ATA. '4150 is a patent on a 'gateway' layer to be implemented between a customer and the communications network as a means of offering and controlling services offered as well as optimizing the deliver of those services. '1695 is a patent on a method to interface packet-based and circuit-switched networks. It specifically mentions SIP and other protocols and how to interface them to signaling and voice paths in a circuit-switched network. Finally, '3930 is a patent on a method to 'redirect' call setup through a third party for the purposes of service restriction or authorization. Basically it's a method of implementing pre-paid service on a packet network. The only one that seems to me that would directly apply to the * community may be the '4150 or '1695 patents. But I don't know enough about patent law to know if it would be worth their time or if they would even have a case. There *maybe* something there too with some of the prepaid modules, like AstCC, if they could argue it was hosted on a separate system. Again, I don't know enough of the specifics to make an educated guess. OK... now that I did my part to add to the FUD, maybe somebody that knows more can build on what I found. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:05 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Cc: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2cof f=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=Search According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/036311.ht ml 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 ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Before people jump at the abstracts, remember that patent abstracts are very generic, and later they must be more specific. I am away this week but if its not answered by next I will look into it more, maybe there will be more news, maybe ill check pacer for the filing... -Original Message- From: Gleim, Jason[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 10/5/05 2:05:44 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussionasterisk-users@lists.digium.com Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents I'll start with the disclaimer that I am not an attorney... nor do I play one on TV... But, a search of the US Patent Trademark Office reveals 13 patents assigned to Sprint that deal with VoIP. (http://www.uspto.gov/) 6947411 6944150 6937869 6909690 6870857 6868081 6865398 6741695 6731735 6697097 6681116 6556826 6373930 Of particular interest are the '9690, '4150, '1695, '3930 patents. '9690 is a patent on call admission control using silence suppression to better utilize network bandwidth. Specifically, it seems to deal with a method to apply adaptive silence suppression at the customer site... presumably in the ATA. '4150 is a patent on a 'gateway' layer to be implemented between a customer and the communications network as a means of offering and controlling services offered as well as optimizing the deliver of those services. '1695 is a patent on a method to interface packet-based and circuit-switched networks. It specifically mentions SIP and other protocols and how to interface them to signaling and voice paths in a circuit-switched network. Finally, '3930 is a patent on a method to 'redirect' call setup through a third party for the purposes of service restriction or authorization. Basically it's a method of implementing pre-paid service on a packet network. The only one that seems to me that would directly apply to the * community may be the '4150 or '1695 patents. But I don't know enough about patent law to know if it would be worth their time or if they would even have a case. There *maybe* something there too with some of the prepaid modules, like AstCC, if they could argue it was hosted on a separate system. Again, I don't know enough of the specifics to make an educated guess. OK... now that I did my part to add to the FUD, maybe somebody that knows more can build on what I found. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:05 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Cc: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2cof f=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=Search According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/036311.ht ml 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
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
The specifics are normally a matter of public record in the jurisdiction where the suit was filed. The suit states the patents involved and the infringement claim. A reading will narrow the speculation significantly. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gleim, Jason Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 2:06 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents I'll start with the disclaimer that I am not an attorney... nor do I play one on TV... But, a search of the US Patent Trademark Office reveals 13 patents assigned to Sprint that deal with VoIP. (http://www.uspto.gov/) 6947411 6944150 6937869 6909690 6870857 6868081 6865398 6741695 6731735 6697097 6681116 6556826 6373930 Of particular interest are the '9690, '4150, '1695, '3930 patents. '9690 is a patent on call admission control using silence suppression to better utilize network bandwidth. Specifically, it seems to deal with a method to apply adaptive silence suppression at the customer site... presumably in the ATA. '4150 is a patent on a 'gateway' layer to be implemented between a customer and the communications network as a means of offering and controlling services offered as well as optimizing the deliver of those services. '1695 is a patent on a method to interface packet-based and circuit-switched networks. It specifically mentions SIP and other protocols and how to interface them to signaling and voice paths in a circuit-switched network. Finally, '3930 is a patent on a method to 'redirect' call setup through a third party for the purposes of service restriction or authorization. Basically it's a method of implementing pre-paid service on a packet network. The only one that seems to me that would directly apply to the * community may be the '4150 or '1695 patents. But I don't know enough about patent law to know if it would be worth their time or if they would even have a case. There *maybe* something there too with some of the prepaid modules, like AstCC, if they could argue it was hosted on a separate system. Again, I don't know enough of the specifics to make an educated guess. OK... now that I did my part to add to the FUD, maybe somebody that knows more can build on what I found. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:05 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Cc: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2cof f=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=Search According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/036311.ht ml 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
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
There has already been a reporter that reviewed the filing in Kansas City, it had no specifics (CNET article maybe). Looks like we will have to wait for the details after there have been further filings... -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:asterisk-users- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of William Boehlke Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:27 PM To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents The specifics are normally a matter of public record in the jurisdiction where the suit was filed. The suit states the patents involved and the infringement claim. A reading will narrow the speculation significantly. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gleim, Jason Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 2:06 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents I'll start with the disclaimer that I am not an attorney... nor do I play one on TV... But, a search of the US Patent Trademark Office reveals 13 patents assigned to Sprint that deal with VoIP. (http://www.uspto.gov/) 6947411 6944150 6937869 6909690 6870857 6868081 6865398 6741695 6731735 6697097 6681116 6556826 6373930 Of particular interest are the '9690, '4150, '1695, '3930 patents. '9690 is a patent on call admission control using silence suppression to better utilize network bandwidth. Specifically, it seems to deal with a method to apply adaptive silence suppression at the customer site... presumably in the ATA. '4150 is a patent on a 'gateway' layer to be implemented between a customer and the communications network as a means of offering and controlling services offered as well as optimizing the deliver of those services. '1695 is a patent on a method to interface packet-based and circuit- switched networks. It specifically mentions SIP and other protocols and how to interface them to signaling and voice paths in a circuit-switched network. Finally, '3930 is a patent on a method to 'redirect' call setup through a third party for the purposes of service restriction or authorization. Basically it's a method of implementing pre-paid service on a packet network. The only one that seems to me that would directly apply to the * community may be the '4150 or '1695 patents. But I don't know enough about patent law to know if it would be worth their time or if they would even have a case. There *maybe* something there too with some of the prepaid modules, like AstCC, if they could argue it was hosted on a separate system. Again, I don't know enough of the specifics to make an educated guess. OK... now that I did my part to add to the FUD, maybe somebody that knows more can build on what I found. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:05 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Cc: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2cof f=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=Search According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail/asterisk-users/2004-February/036311.ht ml http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,1059204,00.html FYI: Voiceglo and theglobe.com are the same company for all
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Damon Estep wrote: There has already been a reporter that reviewed the filing in Kansas City, it had no specifics (CNET article maybe). Looks like we will have to wait for the details after there have been further filings... My suspicion is that Sprint was in negotiations to acquire Vonage and they couldn't agree on a price so Sprint decided to sue Vonage to leverage their position. Regards, Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:asterisk-users- [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of William Boehlke Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:27 PM To: 'Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion' Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents The specifics are normally a matter of public record in the jurisdiction where the suit was filed. The suit states the patents involved and the infringement claim. A reading will narrow the speculation significantly. -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Gleim, Jason Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 2:06 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents I'll start with the disclaimer that I am not an attorney... nor do I play one on TV... But, a search of the US Patent Trademark Office reveals 13 patents assigned to Sprint that deal with VoIP. (http://www.uspto.gov/) 6947411 6944150 6937869 6909690 6870857 6868081 6865398 6741695 6731735 6697097 6681116 6556826 6373930 Of particular interest are the '9690, '4150, '1695, '3930 patents. '9690 is a patent on call admission control using silence suppression to better utilize network bandwidth. Specifically, it seems to deal with a method to apply adaptive silence suppression at the customer site... presumably in the ATA. '4150 is a patent on a 'gateway' layer to be implemented between a customer and the communications network as a means of offering and controlling services offered as well as optimizing the deliver of those services. '1695 is a patent on a method to interface packet-based and circuit- switched networks. It specifically mentions SIP and other protocols and how to interface them to signaling and voice paths in a circuit-switched network. Finally, '3930 is a patent on a method to 'redirect' call setup through a third party for the purposes of service restriction or authorization. Basically it's a method of implementing pre-paid service on a packet network. The only one that seems to me that would directly apply to the * community may be the '4150 or '1695 patents. But I don't know enough about patent law to know if it would be worth their time or if they would even have a case. There *maybe* something there too with some of the prepaid modules, like AstCC, if they could argue it was hosted on a separate system. Again, I don't know enough of the specifics to make an educated guess. OK... now that I did my part to add to the FUD, maybe somebody that knows more can build on what I found. Jason -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Todd Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:05 PM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Cc: asterisk-biz@lists.digium.com Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents 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=50hl=enlr=newwindow=1safe=offc2cof f=1q=%22vonage+uses+asterisk%22btnG=Search According to public information, Voiceglo uses IAX and Asterisk: http://lists.digium.com/pipermail
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
if the case is knowingly frivolous, vonage, voiceglo, and theglobe can sue sprint... Http://pacer.uscourts.gov should have the filing online, when I get home I may pull it unless someone beats me to it. -Original Message- My suspicion is that Sprint was in negotiations to acquire Vonage and they couldn't agree on a price so Sprint decided to sue Vonage to leverage their position. Regards, Jason ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
Why is it you have to put down the United States? Sprint is a U.S. Company. Vonage a U.S. Company. Digium a U.S. Company. What in the heck does it have to do with you? Even if Vonage is tied up in court the rest of the world doesn't care. VOIP will live on. We are not sue happy, This is big business 101. Sprint wants Vonage. This is a way to own them, grab their market, and muck up the rest of the telcos.. There is more here than meets the eye. We'll all have to wait and see what happens. But don't put us down, There are many great people living and working here including the creators of Asterisk. Matt Riddell wrote: trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote: 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. Unless of course they don't live in the United Sue'ers of America. :D ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
I read those comments as a dig on the US patent law as it relates to software, rather than a broader dig at the U.S. Perhaps I am too kind? There are screwy laws all around the globe Some countries require one to prove their innocence, others cut off a body part for a related crime, and we all suffer at the hands of our politicians John Novack Michael D Schelin wrote: Why is it you have to put down the United States? Sprint is a U.S. Company. Vonage a U.S. Company. Digium a U.S. Company. What in the heck does it have to do with you? Even if Vonage is tied up in court the rest of the world doesn't care. VOIP will live on. We are not sue happy, This is big business 101. Sprint wants Vonage. This is a way to own them, grab their market, and muck up the rest of the telcos.. There is more here than meets the eye. We'll all have to wait and see what happens. But don't put us down, There are many great people living and working here including the creators of Asterisk. Matt Riddell wrote: trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote: 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. Unless of course they don't live in the United Sue'ers of America. :D ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
I meant to imply anyone that wants to do business in america, not just live here, if you want to write off america fine, dont terminate calls here. The system is broke, and without money bigger companies can make life vary hard. My suggestion was to get more info, not to cease operations, find out specifically what is charged so you dont have to fight like voiceglo theglobe and yes vonage. Most people who want big business' will look to provide service everywhere rather than small regions only. -Original Message- Matt Riddell wrote: trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote: 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. Unless of course they don't live in the United Sue'ers of America. :D ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
John Novack wrote: I read those comments as a dig on the US patent law as it relates to software, rather than a broader dig at the U.S. Perhaps I am too kind? There are screwy laws all around the globe Some countries require one to prove their innocence, others cut off a body part for a related crime, and we all suffer at the hands of our politicians Indeed. My comment was directed at the USPTO who grants patents on a regular basis with what seems like no effort to check for prior art. The first time I saw this I thought it was stupid. The second, unbelievable, and the 358456347563th one crazy! :D -- Cheers, Matt Riddell ___ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss) ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
RE: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
They probably have liability insurance anyhow, plus this is all too often standard business practice. Will it hold up? Who knows, someone will probably go under from the legal fees alone. Greg -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matt Riddell Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 6:10 AM To: Asterisk Users Mailing List - Non-Commercial Discussion Subject: Re: [Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents trixter http://www.0xdecafbad.com wrote: 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. Unless of course they don't live in the United Sue'ers of America. :D -- Cheers, Matt Riddell ___ http://www.sineapps.com/news.php (Daily Asterisk News - html) http://www.sineapps.com/rssfeed.php (Daily Asterisk News - rss) ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
[Asterisk-Users] Sprint Nextel sueing over VoIP patents
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 signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part ___ --Bandwidth and Colocation sponsored by Easynews.com -- Asterisk-Users mailing list Asterisk-Users@lists.digium.com http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users