Legal usage of Skype for Broadcasting

[andrewzarian]

Mike, maybe you could help out on this topic.. What are the odds of skype going after internet broadcasters?

[Podnutter]

This is Alarming. Many internet broadcasters and podcasters depend on skype. If they start coming after podcasts it can be devastating

[Donovan]

I'm no lawyer, but I really don't see them doing anything about it. Think about the high profile podcasters out there that use it, including Andrew and Twit. If they did do something, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot as I'm quite sure that podcasters would start finding alternatives in droves. Piss off a community over your product and see how long it is before you no longer have anyone using it.

But, as I said, I'm not a lawyer. Just my .02 worth.

As a side note, I've used the beta Mumble client and server with the Opus codec and it works pretty well also. I believe I've also heard that the mumble team is looking at potentially adding video to their client in the future. But that could just be a rumor. Someone will come up with a solution that has both video and audio to compete with Skype. It always happens.

[Amnon]

Mike, maybe you could help out on this topic.. What are the odds of skype going after internet broadcasters?

I wonder if they have a different set of TOS for users who pay for their services.

[mcphillips]

Amnon, I have not seen a different set of terms and conditions for paying users.

One broadcaster told me that his terrestrial radio station received an invoice from Skype for using the service for broadcasting purposes. He did not give me any other details. Is it likely that Microsoft will go after people who violate their terms of service? Only they can answer that question, but I do believe it is a real possibility.

Replacing audio-only Skype is now possible for non-group applications. Several SIP client developers are already supporting the Opus codec. Unfortunately, most SIP users are tin-eared and do not understand true wideband audio, so they are capping the maximum available bandwidth. Eventually, we may be able to persuade them to remove all caps and let us decide what bandwidth we want to consume. Then, we have to have a SIP provider that will support our selection.

There is a SIP client that may be able to do what we need. It's called Bria by CounterPath. Amnon and I tested it previously, and it did not meet our needs. There are newer versions that need to be evaluated. It's $50 per client, and I don't think that there is a free trial. We tested audio only.

For Computers 2K Now, since we're not HD, we could probably get away with using zoom.us for video. It's also possible that we could use one of the new services that supports HD video, like GoToMeeting. If Skype disappeared today, TeamSpeak could be used as an audio-only alternative. I've already done it. We did an episode of Rick's House using TeamSpeak with a server hosted by RadarGaming. The quality is very good. Since Mumble is open source, maybe we can get Donovan's son to learn to compile and configure a version that will do what we want. That's over my head, though.

People like Leo and Andrew have the biggest challenges since they need HD. There are some very expensive commercial solutions, but those solutions are out of reach of the average Internet broadcaster or podcaster.

The real question is, why hasn't Apple entered this market to compete with Microsoft? After all, if it's Apple, it just works. Right?

[Donovan]

For video, this is upcoming --

http://www.webrtc.org/blog

[Donovan]

And, yes, Tyler and I have been talking about adding video. I'm not sure he's ready for that challenge, though. He did write inSSIDer 2.0, but video is a big monster.

[mcphillips]

Yes, but he is a wiz. You told me so.

[Donovan]

No doubt. He amazes me every day.