[news=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=860yBy1DZswJ&imgurl=www.kashar.net/newspics/skeype.jpg]Do Chinese carriers have the right to block VoIP to stop revenue loss or to bolster national security?
September 9, 2005
The Shenzhen branch of China Telecom, China’s largest telecommunications carrier, has begun blocking VoIP calls in a possible effort to stanch the massive loss of revenue it could sustain if a substantial percentage of that country’s 100 million Internet users switch their long-distance calling to services like Skype.
Reuters cited media reports and Internet postings as the source of its information that the Shenzhen branch of the former monopoly carrier has begun blocking Internet users from accessing Skype’s voice services within that city.
The news service also cites a report in the Shanghai Daily that China Telecom plans to block Skype’s service throughout the country, eventually. However, there was no confirmation of that unattributed report.
News reports said the carrier, which owns a large broadband network and controls a large network of ISPs, has created a “blacklist” of Skype users in Shenzhen and threatened punitive action against those who try to circumvent the carrier’s Skype blocks.
:source: Source: http://www.redherring.com/Article.as...m+Blocks+Skype[/news]
