Description: In combination, the patents cover hardware, software, and processes for implementing voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) using analog telephones as endpoints. Put simply, these patents cover telephone calls over the Internet.
Patent Name: Method and apparatus for implementing a computer network/internet telephone system & Voice internet transmission system
Patent Number: 6,243,373
Critical Date: November 1, 1995
Crimes against the public domain
- Overbroad patents cover nearly all current implementations of VoIP, an emerging technology, thus stifling innovation and use of VoIP as a tool of free speech
- Crippling the progress of small VoIP developers could undermine ease of communication online
