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P2P Meets PSTN, With Bellster

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the marsgram dept.

flinderhans writes "Jeff Pulver, the guy who started Free World Dialup (free VoIP network) and had the germ of the idea that turned into Vonage, has launched a P2P network called Bellster that allows users to share their private lines to make calls anywhere on the public-switched telephone network. Interesting stuff, even if it doesn't look quite ready for prime-time."

4 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. No thanks by MarkRose · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm a fan of the P2P concept, but I'm not sure I'd want to be involved anonymously -- after all, I definitely do not want someone using my phone to make obscene or harassing phone calls.

    --
    Be relentless!
    1. Re:No thanks by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not only that but what if someone hacks the system and uses your phone to make a long distance phone call? What if a telemarketer outside of your country uses your phone?
      I see a lot of issues with this. Too bad it is a neat idea.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  2. Critique by Dejohn · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This seems like a great concept. It's a great use of current technology to subvert the big phone companies. When I first read about it, I thought to myself "wow! this is going to become HUGE!" Then I realized that there are some serious problems to be overcome, such as
    • Privacy. I could pick up my phone line and listen to your conversation with Grandma
    • Currently, anyone who wants to hook up needs to run the whole Asterisk server. I'm sure someone will write a small little client that interfaces with some cheap hardware eventually
    • Potential for abuses: dialing long distance numbers from your line, making obscene or harassing calls, etc. As the "owner" of a phone line, I'm theoretically liable for all its use

    So, while I think this is really an awesome adaptation of the technology we have, and certainly a great perspective of what Asterisk is capable of, it'll be a while before this sort of things becomes mainstream and people want to hook up to it.
  3. NO Privacy by CharlieHedlin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In the FAQ it talks briefly of privacy, saying there isn't any.

    I have an Asterisk PBX at home, and it is very easy to set the system up to log and record every call. Imagine if I joined Bellster (which I don't plan to, my VoIP services are already insanely cheap) what type of privacy violations I could commit? Granted it would be illeagal to listen to or record a conversation without either parties concent, who would know?