On Tue, 2005-07-19 at 00:35 +0000, Obelix wrote: > > I have been reading a number of the past threads about G.729 licensing., about > how the registration keys are linked to the network configurations, limited > number of registrations etc, etc. > > Is there no reason why the decoding can't be done in with some Asterisk > compatible hardware, so that once the adapter is bought, all licensing issues > go away. > > In that way the owner could fiddle with the installation to his hearts > content, > without having to bother about reregistering licenses after some changes. > > It would save both Digium and end users a lot of hassle.
They need to ensure that the license is not used by others. Digium has to pay the patent owner a fee for the codec. The way that it is licensed by the patent owner is per concurrent use as well. In linux gethostid() returns the IP address, not all systems work this way, some use a serial number off an eeprom (sparcs for example). Without locking it to something hardware based (cpu serial or something which isnt guaranteed to be accurate since its trivial to make a sysctl to report whatever you want ...) that woud be a feat. Additionally if you lock it to a peice of hardware you would not be able to play with the hardware, only the network. gethostid() is a silly way to lock hardware in my opinion anyway since it returns the IP address and many people now use NAT (by need or desire such as perception of increased security). NAT allows the system to sit behind the real IP and dish out seats and its possible (although it would take an illegal act on all concerned parties) to use the software without actually paying for it (someone somewhere would have to pay for it, but ...) Additionally with LD_PRELOAD or programs like systrace (depending on how its done in the code) you can force gethostid() to return whatever arbitrary data you wanted on a per invocation basis. One program can get the hostid as X while another on the same system at the same time gets it as Y. But right now this is the best of everything because it does not force you to buy additional hardware you may not have and do not want. And unless the communication path to the device could be controlled or a crypto system was implemented (and ITAR may be a problem, although I think they have exceptions for devices like this) the hardware could be emulated via software and it would totally defeat the licensing system with about the same degree of ease. All it would do is add cost to the end user, something I am sure most people do not want. In theory asterisk could bridge the licensed codec to an external hardware device that would have the number of seats in it but this would add latency and degrade performance, something I am very certain people do not want. What exists is the best of all worlds given the world we live in. Patents do exist in some places and as such the patent holder has the right under those laws to charge if they desire. In this case they do desire, and so digium is forced to pay. Being responsible business people they pass that charge on to the end users as it would be foolish for them to asorb the cost so that everyone else does not have to pay. -- 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
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