Subject: [codec] Expression of support for an IETF Codec WG

From: Ron <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:47:58 +0930

Hi,

I've never had much to do with the internal workings of the IETF,
though I've long been a beneficiary of its work.  Mostly that is
probably because you have usually been two steps ahead of what I've
needed at any point in time, until now.  So I'd like to add my voice
to those supporting the formation of this working group, because my
daily experience is that this is one area where we are still sorely
lacking in standards for interoperability, in the manner of which the
internet has so successfully grown as a hub of open communication in
so many of its various forms.

With the rapid increase in bandwidth that is available to many users
now, this is a mode of communication thats time is well upon us.
Without genuine open standards, it will however remain as limited as
things were in the heyday of uucp.  People will remain tied into
small groups, that may have effective communication with each other,
but are limited in their ability to communicate with those on the
'outside'.  If the internet traditionally views such things as damage,
then it seems well within the scope of the IETF to standardise
effective ways to route around it.  High quality, unencumbered, codecs
are one of the cornerstones of doing just that.

I speak with a number of hats on my hatrack.  Personally, as a software
developer, the standards refined and published by the IETF give me
certainty that my work can be interoperable with that of others.  More
than that, they give me certainty that this work can be freely shared
with others, without the burden, or even potentially the impossibility,
of them being able to obtain a licence from a third party to actually
use that work.  The benefits of collaborative and cooperative development
are well known, so I won't rehash them here, except to say that it seems
clear that such work has already proven it can create state of the art
codecs, and it would seem foolish to me to not recognise and formalise
that work as appropriate internet standards that we all can build on
with the same certainty as we have enjoyed since the Internet Protocol
became the accepted way to push packets around between otherwise
dissimilar machines.

In a lesser sense I speak as an Operating System vendor.  In particular
as the maintainer of the Speex and Celt codecs for one of the larger
branches of the GNU/Linux distributions.  I won't reiterate the eloquent
points made by the folks from Collabora and others about the importance
of such support to our users, from home users of desktop systems to the
manufacturers of appliances, and service providers, for whom we provide
a base to build upon and meet their own needs.  While there is resistance
to standardising the best codecs that we are able to provide to these
people, they will remain unnecessarily limited in their ability to
facilitate audio communication with other devices and users.

Last but not least, I speak with a commercial interest as a stakeholder
in Voicetronix, a designer and manufacturer of telephony hardware since
1999.  We've had a long and successful history of providing patent and
royalty free software to the VARs who develop products upon our hardware.
The current state of affairs with respect to (lack of) interoperability
of VoIP systems is without doubt the single largest factor currently
stifling its broader uptake in the community.  While this may provide
us with a short term benefit in prolonging sales of our traditional
telephony devices, it is clear to us that this is not a situation that
it is in the interest of any but a handful of patent holders to prolong
for any longer than necessary.  While codecs are not the only sticking
point for such systems becoming much more ubiquitous than they currently
are, they are clearly a required component, and this working group will
be addressing a very essential need for the future growth of our company,
and the future development of products by our customers, who range from
Fortune 500 companies, to small backyard developers creating innovative
tools for their own niche markets.

I firmly believe, with an open heart and clean hands, that the time is
right, and the expertise available, for such a working group to provide
some priceless additions to the stable of IETF standards upon which all
future communications will be built.

Thanks for listening,
Ron Lee