The sticky wicket isn't the protocols used to schlep the video, it's the session initiation. Apple's mapping phone numbers (for iPhones) and email addresses (fo

The sticky wicket isn't the protocols used to schlep the video, it's the session initiation. Apple's mapping phone numbers (for iPhones) and email addresses (for iPods and now Macs) to a central hub to initiate calls. That's how the FaceTime Mac application launches when someone initiates a call to my email address; on iOS I presume it uses push notifications. Open-sourcing the protocol doesn't solve the integration issue, and Apple hasn't said anything publicly about letting third parties join this particular sandbox.