Within two weeks of acquiring Skype, Microsoft is set out to cut all Open Source ties to Skype, begining with Asterisk, the best open source IPPBX in the world.
According to a letter from Digium to it's customers, Skype will not renew its agreement with Digium that allowed Asterisk to be integrated with the Skype service through Asterisk for Skype, a product by Digium..
"It includes proprietary software from Skype that allows Asterisk to join the Skype network as a native client. Skype has decided not to renew the agreement that permits us to package this proprietary software,” according to the letter.
But I love what Digium's Danny Windham has to say about the whole issue of Skype;
Digium BlogIs the acquisition good for Skype? Given the valuation, it’s certainly good for the Skype shareholders. But what about the service itself? In a word, no. History suggests that Microsoft’s tendency towards notoriously proprietary tactics will slow the development of Skype as a business tool. Will Microsoft wall-off Skype from competing products, completely? Or, at a bare minimum will Microsoft ensure their products work much better with Skype than those from competitors? Time will tell.
This transaction has attracted speculation from around the globe regarding the future of Skype, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, incumbent phone companies, VoIP, video communications, Apple, the Iphone, Andriod, and I’m sure even pork belly futures. Regardless of your view on how the merger will ultimately shake out, it’s hard to deny at least this one fact: disruptive communications companies and technologies are changing the world at a rapid pace – and in this case, they are generating gigantic value for their shareholders in the process.
