Voip Pal Com Inc (VPLM)

[ButtersOnARoll]

I don't think WhatsApp uses IP addresses

Thus isn't covered by VPs patents, but I don't think that is a huge concern for us. I'm very excited to see that amount of money being thrown around for something as simple as an "open source" XMPP texting app, but IMO, I think this $19B purchase will be a huge loss for facebook. VPLM's patents cover much more than just free texting, which is all Whatsapp is. And, most cell phone plans offer unlimited Talk&Text now anyway:

"WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard "Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol" (XMPP). Upon installation, it creates a user account using one's phone number as the username (Jabber ID: [phone number]@s.whatsapp.net)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp

Below from another article that tells a little more about XMPP:

Google moves away from the XMPP open-messaging standard

Google means Android!

Excerpt:

"Google will no longer be fully supporting the XMPP, aka Jabber, IM specification. A Google spokesperson explained, "The openness of [Google] Talk led to bad user experiences like spam attacks, and limited use in terms of supporting the various forms of communication that we're now able to achieve with Hangouts."

Google Hangouts are VOIP based!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT FOR VPLM

"While Google didn't mention it, in the past, other companies have been reluctant to fully support XMPP because of security, quality of service, and revenue stream concerns about third-party servers and clients."