PHP CLI: reading a line from a socket and stripping telnet control characters

Question

I want to read a line (ending with \x0D\x0A) from a PHP socket, and strip the telnet control charaters (IAC, WILL, DO, etc) from it. Currently I'm using this:

<?php
// snip
function socket_readline($socket, $echo = true) {
    $buffer = "";
    $bufsize = 0;
    $length = 4096;
    $need = $length;
    while ($bufsize < $length) {
     $read = array($socket);
     $write = null;
     $except = null;
     $changes = socket_select($read, $write, $except, null);
     if ($changes > 0) {
      $in = socket_read($read[0], 1);
      while ($in == TELNET_IAC) {
       $in = socket_read($read[0], 1);
       if ($in == TELNET_WILL or $in == TELNET_WONT
        or $in == TELNET_DO or $in == TELNET_DONT) {
        socket_read($read[0], 1);
        $in = socket_read($read[0], 1);
       }
       elseif ($in == TELNET_SB) {
        do { $in = socket_read($read[0], 1); } while ($in != TELNET_SE);
       }
      }
      if ($echo or $in == "\x0A" or $in == "\x0D") socket_write($read[0], $in);
      $insize = strlen($in);
      $buffer .= $in; $bufsize += $insize;
      if ($in == "" or $in == "\x0A") break;
     }
    }
    return rtrim($buffer, "\x0D\x0A");
}
?>

...but it just feels too hackish. Is there a better way?