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VoIP Backlash From Phone Companies
denis-The-menace writes "An article from the online edition of IEEE Spectrum says phone companies in France, Germany, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced they will block VoIP calls on their networks. Using new software from Narus Inc., the carriers can detect data packets belonging to VoIP applications and block the calls. Gotta love Ma Bell." From the article: "Narus's software does far more than just frustrate Skype users. It can also diagnose, and react to, denial-of-service attacks and dangerous viruses and worms as they wiggle through a network. It makes possible digital wiretaps, a capability that carriers are required by law to have. However, these positive applications for Narus's software may not be enough to make Internet users warm to its use. 'Protecting its network is a legitimate thing for a carrier to do ... But it's another thing for a Comcast to charge more if I use my own TiVo instead of the personal video recorder they provide, or for Time Warner, which owns CNN, to charge a premium if I want to watch Fox News on my computer.'"
I really hope we don't see this deterioration of the internet, though.
Please bear in mind that Germany, France, et al. are the same countries that are trying, through the UN, to forcibly take control of the internet's root servers.
I'm not trying to start a flame war, but I do want to emphasize that the structure of the internet today makes it very easy for powerful organizations (governments, in particular, but telcos in this case) to regulate and control the flow of information, no matter how legitimate.
As an American I am proud to say I'm glad I don't have to talk to France, Germany, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. If they are so much holier than us, fine. Let them go. It's going to be more of a burden to them than it will be to us and the rest of the world. The world is changing, you can either change with it or fade in to obscurity.
See the Pictures of the Flood of '08
And this is precisely why control of the internet should not be moved out of the United States. Imagine what these twits could do if they had control of root servers.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
If France, Germany, or whatever other country wanted to, they could control their own root servers. All they would need to do is force their local ISP's to forward all root server traffic to the government run servers. Trivial to do. This is not about their lack of control - this is all about hating the US and trying to damage us in any and all ways possible without physically starting a war.
I cannot imaging wanting to watch Fox News at all....but on a computer? You got larger problems my friend.
Many Slashdot readers have commented that the United States is arrogant in demanding to maintain control of Internet governance, such as this thread and also this one...
Thankfully, the U.S. has refused the call for Internationalization as we can clearly see how other, less free-market/capitalist, governments would run things...