Re: Brand X decision could mean widespread VoIP blocking

[Frank Coluccio]

I commented independently concerning the same issue just a little while ago, at:

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=21457409

re:

 
"The question may now become if consumer can order Vonage, 8x8, ... VoIP service, riding the cable Internet service."

---begin snip: 

Agreed, that is a major question. There is nothing that binds the MSOs to continue carrying the parasitic services you cited except for good will, and throughout the country the measure of that good will varies by region, state and down to the individual locale and household. If recent history is any guide, the incumbents will do whatever they can get away with and still profit from within the shortest possible horizon. It would be difficult for the MSOs to cut the Vonages off at the knees at this time, but will become easier if and/or when the Telcos, too, find themselves no longer required to fill the role of common carriers. Then both the MSOs and the ILECs can give the parasites the boot, and customers will have nowhere else to go that permits them. To do so before that time, however, could potentially be a PR nightmare for the MSOs, IMO, and this could outweigh any potential interim financial gains, so I think that they will wait for the ILECs to catch up with them so they could share some of the negative light.

---end snip

Frank A. Coluccio
DTI Consulting Inc.
212-587-8150 Office
347-526-6788 Mobile

On Tue Jun 28 20:06 , "Fergie (Paul Ferguson)" sent:

> Jeff Pulver makes a good point in a Forbes article
> when he says "I believe it's a matter of when, not
> if" providers start blocking VoIP traffic from
> competitors across their own infrastructure, especially
> on the heels of the Brand X SCOTUS ruling.
>
> "If I'm a service provider offering my own voice
> over broadband offering, and I've got the ability
> to block my competition, why not?"
>
> http://www.forbes.com/technology/2005/06/28/voip-cable-blocked-cx_de_0628voip.html
>
> - ferg
>
> --
> "Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
>  Engineering Architecture for the Internet
>  fergdawg@netzero.net or fergdawg@sbcglobal.net
>  ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/