SCALE 3x Plans Panel Discussion on the Future of Voice Over IP and Open Source

The Southern California Linux expo has announced plans to host a panel discussion on the future of open source and voice over IP technologies at SCALE 3x. SCALE 3x, the Third Annual Southern California Linux Expo is the premier grass roots Linux and Open Source conference.

Panel members will include Louie Mamakos, (Chief Technology Officer - Vonage), Jeff Bonforte (SIPphone), Al Brisard (Pingtel), and Darryl Strauss (President - Digital Ordnance). These leaders from the VoIP and open source communities will cover topics relevant to the future of open source Voice Over IP (VoIP) efforts. Subtopics will include the effects of government regulation on peer to peer (P2P) / open-source VoIP projects, current future VoIP standards, as well as technical and legal hurdles.

Voice over IP, also known as IP Telephony, is a technology which allows for voice communications over the Internet and other IP based networks. VoIP allows for lower cost calls than traditional telecommunications networks. According to a recent Gartner Dataquest forecast, VoIP related revenues in 2005 should hit $10.6 billion and are expected grow to $24 billion in 2008. With this type of growth it is no wonder VoIP is the focus of major corporations and governments around the globe. SCALE 3x's seminars and panels will help you learn more about current and future open-source VoIP technologies, as well as provide you with the information you need to work with the coming developments and regulations.

ABOUT THE PANEL MEMBERS

Louis Mamakos is Chief Technology Office at Vonage. He oversees all technology functions at Vonage, which includes new product and services development, supervision of all research projects and integration of all technology-based activities into Vonage's corporate strategy. Mr. Mamakos has more than 20 years of experience in Internet technical engineering and architecture for large scale, commercial IP backbone networks. In the past Mr. Mamakos has held various positions at Hyperchip, UUNET Technologies, and MCI. For more information on Vonage see http://www.vonage.com

Jeff Bonforte is Public Relations Director for SIPphone. SIPphone a leader in true SIP broadband calling. Mr. Bonforte has over 11 years in high tech experience Prior to joining SIPphone, Mr. Bonforte was CEO of iDrive.com, a leader in online file storage. In 2001 he was honored as "Internet Entrepreneur of the Year" by President Clinton and Family Celebration. For more information on Mr. Bonforte and SIPphone see: http://www.sipphone.com

Al Brisard Vice President of Marketing at Pingtel. He is responsible the company's strategic product direction, product marketing, outbound marketing, and corporate communications. Al has 17 years of experience in voice and data communications marketing with a strong emphasis in bringing new technologies and business models to market. Prior to joining Pingtel, Al was Vice President and GM at MCK Communications, Inc., the market leader in providing remote voice solutions to the enterprise community. Prior to MCK, Al was Director of Marketing and Business Development at 3Com and played a key industry role in the adoption of DSL by the international marketplace. Al earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Daryll Strauss is a pioneer in the Linux community. He started using Unix systems while in college at Carnegie Mellon back in 1984. He has been involved in the Linux and open source community since 1995. His first open source program was a driver to support the original Connectix QuickCam. He is responsible for the first hardware accelerated 3D support for Linux on the 3dfx Voodoo Graphics card and built the Linux cluster used to render images for Titanic. He is now president of Digital Ordinance, a company that produces hardware and software to support HDTV and film post production.

About The Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 3x):

The Linux Expo of Southern California, Inc. is a non-profit organization currently comprised, but not limited to, members of the USCLUG, UCLALUG, and SCLUG. The mission of SCALE is outreach - our goal is to evangelize the advantages of Open Source software. Open Source software is any software that meets the litmus test of the OSI (Open Source Initiative).

SCALE 3x will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on February 12th and 13th, 2005. Registration for sponsorship and attendance is still open. Full conference passes are available at $65 (50% discount available for students). Exhibit hall passes can be obtained at no cost with the promotional code "free". More information on speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, and the conference schedule is available online at www.socallinuxexpo.org.

Media, Press and Interviews Contact:
Orv Beach
Publicity Chair
orv@socallinuxexpo.org

Sponsorship and Exhibitor Contact:
Ilan Rabinovitch
Conference Chair
818-442-1685 Voice
ilan@socallinuxexpo.org email

Speaker Contact:
Shyam Kapadia
Speaker and Seminar Chair
kapadia@socallinuxexpo.org