Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
Why don't they just outlaw VOIP CLECs that connect to their internal phone networks? This would be much easier that trying to filter packets.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
But wouldn't this affect their status as a common carrier? IANAL, so I'm actually wondering how this applies.
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach him to fish and he'll wipe out the species.
Does that mean.... Coral Cache is slashdotted?
If it's so secret, then how come I've never heard of it?
You are being MICROattacked, from various angles, in a SOFT manner.