ISP For ISPs Sued By An ISP For Blocking VoIP

Legal Issues

from the block-first,-ask-questions-later dept

In the last few months there have been plenty of stories about ISPs blocking VoIP, but here’s one with a twist. According to Om Malik, a Chilean incumbent telco is being sued for blocking VoIP — but not by an end-user. Instead, it’s another ISP that’s suing. The ISP in question leases lines from the telco, Telefonica Chile, and wants its customers to be able to use VoIP services — but Telefonica Chile has apparently decided that no one using their lines should be able to use VoIP. Again, these moves by telcos seem to be incredibly short-sighted, as they’re only going to make users look to go with other providers who recognize that they should be able to use their data connection for any data they want.

The Mobile Video Game Bubble

Wireless

Earlier this month, for TheFeature, I wrote a piece pointing out that, for all the talk about mobile video games it wasn’t at all clear that the space would be as big as some expected. The point was that most of the games being offered were simply retreads of old games — and while they might be fun to play for a little while, it wasn’t clear that many people would actually pay for such games. The games were designed as timewasters — a la Minesweeper and Solitaire on a desktop computer. And, of course, it’s worth noting that no one pays for those games. Russell Beattie has tried to visually prove the same point by putting up screenshots of a ton of mobile games, none of which are anything new or special — and all of which can apparently be found for free as cracked versions. The mobile video game space can do well, but providers would be much better off focusing on apps that actually take advantage of the mobile nature of the user, rather than just moving old video games to a mobile platform. Update: Another article at Red Herring notes that mobile app firms are having trouble differentiating themselves.

Cameraphone Over Reactions Still Happening

Overhype

This was a big story a year or so ago, but apparently someone decided to dredge it up again, just for the hell of it. It appears that many companies are still over-reacting to the “threat” of cameraphones and are banning them in various places. The latest example? Apple’s shareholder meeting. Can anyone explain what Apple kept “secret” by banning cameraphones at this meeting?