Screaming For, About VoIP

The Internet telephone revolution is causing lawmakers and others to take sides over whether the technology is good or bad for consumers and the telecom sector overall.

Nonetheless, the growing popularity of Net phone services has proven that what could have been a passing technology fad is becoming a permanent fixture for how many people make phone calls. More "traditional" phone companies are rolling out Internet phone services -- which are often cheaper and more flexible for customers -- after realizing that upstarts like Vonage Holdings Corp. continue to attract a lot of buzz and substantial business.

VoIP, or Voice-over-Internet Protocol, has an important ally: "Father of the Internet" Vinton G. Cerf, head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Cerf told an Internet meeting in Australia that he had a simple response for how to regulate VoIP, CNET's News.com reported. "That's the wrong question," he said. "We don't regulate it." More from Cerf: "My concern here is the fact that VoIP looks like and sounds like telephony," he said, according to CNET. "This is horribly misleading. To leap to that conclusion is extremely dangerous. VoIP is really just another application on the Internet. Nothing special about it."

Many incumbent providers and legislators have taken a different stance over fears that standards like 911 calling and other features -- as well as revenue sources from phone taxes and other fees -- may be impacted by the rise of Internet phone calling technology. Traditional phone companies, while offering some VoIP services, also are leery of losing control and marketshare to upstart Internet firms.

The Federal Communications Commission for its part is grappling with VoIP questions too. In February 2004, the FCC decided that a pure Internet-based VoIP service is an unregulated service. But the FCC said a further look was needed to see what role the FCC should play as newer technologies like VoIP develop. In other words, stay tuned. It certainly isn’t a done deal when politicos are involved. The FCC set up a working group to focus on Internet-related telecom issues, including VoIP.

In California, regulators are ducking making regulatory decisions on VoIP, leaving it up to the feds. "State regulators have reversed themselves on broadband telephone calling and ceded oversight to the federal government -- a move that critics fear will leave California customers with little recourse for poor or faulty service," The Los Angeles Times reported today. "The state Public Utilities Commission voted 3 to 1 behind closed doors late last week to pull out of its appeal of a Federal Communications Commission rule designating so-called voice over Internet protocol as an interstate service beyond state control. California's was the first of several state utility commissions to appeal the FCC order, leading to the combining of the cases in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Its decision to withdraw is likely to cause delays and a move to another circuit."

In other Internet telephone news, Skype -- created by the brains behind file-sharing site Kazaa --continues to shake things up by offering more services. The company today started a paid "voice mail and phone access service in eight countries including the United States, stepping up competitive pressure on incumbent operators. Skype, whose software allows people to make free phone calls over the Internet, said users could now get up to three phone numbers which will allow them to be reached by phone from any ordinary handset, fixed or mobile. Previously Skype users could only be reached from a computer connected to the Internet," Reuters reported.

Clock Ticking On Tax Time

If you are among the tax-time procrastinators, there's still time to file your taxes or file an extension (for the ultimate procrastinators). The U.S. Postal Service Web site has a helpful page on its Web site for finding a post office near year (ones that are open late too) and other tax tips. The IRS has tax tips for 2004 taxes on its site, including downloadable forms and instructions for applying for an extension. There is also free e-filing on the IRS site for taxpayers who qualify.

If you live in an area with an H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt tax service office, many are staying open late to help last-minute filers with tax questions.

DVD Wars

Are the DVD format wars soon to be a thing of the past? The Wall Street Journal reports today that the entertainment industry is trying to find a way to settle differences over two dueling formats. An excerpt from the piece: "Hoping to avoid a costly war over the next generation of DVDs, Hollywood executives and electronics manufacturers are discussing whether to merge two competing formats that are on a collision course and are threatening to delay the arrival of high-definition movies and games in consumers' homes," the paper said. "Sony Corp., with its Blu-ray format, is in a knockout battle with Toshiba Corp. and its HD DVD format. Both formats promise better picture quality, more-interactive features and stricter copy protection than do today's DVDs. Each one has the support of several big electronics makers and studios. ... Both camps have the same goal: to extend the DVD bonanza that has revived the movie business in recent years, by offering upgraded DVDs with high-definition content and interactive features. With each side wedded to its own incompatible technology, the industry has seemed headed for a repeat of the brutal format war between Betamax and VHS videocassettes two decades ago."

Lassoing Longhorn

CNET's News.com gives a preview of Longhorn, Microsoft's next-generation Windows operating system. The company is starting to show pieces of the operating system off to reporters and some blogger/techies, even though it won't be out until next year. "This is going to be a big deal," Jim Allchin, Microsoft group vice president, told the publication.

So why is Microsoft making noise about Longhorn now? A poster on Slashdot.org notes aptly that Apple Computer's own operating system release, Tiger, has a lot to do with it. Tiger is slated to come out of its cage on April 29. From Slashdot: "The timing is not coincidental with Apple's Tiger release, as Allchin pointed out some advantages that Microsoft had over Apple's OS."

The Hitchhiker's Guide ...

... goes mobile. BBC News has a dispatch about a mobile edition of the
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," put out by the BBC (there's nothing like the press doing some self-serving coverage). "Owners of smartphones and handheld computers will be able to access the guide while they are out and about. The portable edition contains 7,000 articles from the H2G2 site covering life, the Universe and everything," the BBC said. A movie comes out based on the book on April 29.

Comments

[Mike]

Up here in the Great White North, Bell Canada, after almost a year of technical trials, has recently launched a consumer version of VOIP in a few select areas. The CRTC has been trying to decide how to handle VOIP for ages (decision is due May 12), but Bell seems to have tired of waiting. The only CRTC regulation on Internet services, in 1998, explicitly exempts from pricing regulations "retail Internet applications". So that's what Bell calls this offering.