In a press release issued today, Skype announced the acquisition of a smaller competitor for VoIP. For an impressive $27 Million, Skype will be acquiring a start-up VoIP company called Sonorit, a company based in San Francisco, as well as a subsidiary of Sonorit called Camino Networks. Skype's decision for the deal was influenced not by Sonorit's infrastructure, but their engineering team, which will help Skype further develop their VoIP hardware and software. In many areas of emerging technologies, buyouts like this are common. Skype is looking to stay a step ahead of companies like Vonage, and with all the trouble plaguing Skype recently in the courts, that's a good idea.