[Freeswitch-users] AMR transcoding

[Steve Underwood]

On 08/24/2011 04:41 AM, Moises Silva wrote:
> Hi Steve, long time no see.
>
> On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 9:20 AM, Steve Underwood<steveu at coppice.org>  wrote:
>
>>> Sadly, for the specific case of AMR, you still need a license even
>>> with D500. It is my understanding that the patent holders of AMR did
>>> not allow including the licensing from the manufacturer, they rather
>>> want to deal with the end user.
>> Can you explain how that works? There appears to be no way for an end
>> user to licence AMR.
> I believe I have misused the term "end-user". I meant, our card is not
> considered an "end-user" product.
>
> We did some research regarding this before we started selling our
> transcoding card. We contacted voice age which is responsible for
> licensing AMR (http://www.voiceage.com/amr_faqs.php). Because our
> product is a card and according to their criteria is not and end user
> product (but rather something that others use to build end-user
> products), we cannot include the licensing in the card and you have to
> contact them for licensing terms.
>
> I believe that if we were shipping a box with the card included (let's
> say a PBX) we most likely would be able to include the licensing for
> AMR.
>
> Note also that the license for AMR does not "unlock" any features of
> the card. The card can do AMR regardless of whether you have a license
> or not, but it is the same driving a car without a driver's license,
> you can do it, but it is illegal.
As far as I know, you can't even licence AMR properly from Voice Age. I 
understand their patent pool is far from complete. Even their G.729 pool 
licencing, which is far more mature, can leave you getting unexpected 
letters from lawyers.

Steve