NewsForge: Finding Voice Codecs for Free Software

“In a recent article about VoIP softphones, I touched on the
problem of proprietary, patent-encumbered codecs. To recap, the
point was that a triumph of open protocols, like Session Initiation
Protocol (SIP) and Inter-Asterisk EXchange (IAX), is hollow if the
marketplace standardizes on closed, proprietary codecs for
delivering the voice data itself. But how do you find the good free
codecs? Here are some options.

“If softphone vendors adopt only proprietary codecs, Linux
distributors and software vendors will be forced to either pay
royalties and license fees to the patent owners, or remove support
for the popular standards, leaving their users in a VoIP
ghetto–much like the situation today with many distros and
MP3.

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