
EU looks into blocking of Internet calls - gibsonf1
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/11/business/mobile.php
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Hexstream
Misleading title, I thought it meant that the EU is thinking about blocking
Internet calls but they're just investigating whether companies do it.

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jodrellblank
You misreading it doesn't make it a misleading title. They are looking into
"blocking of calls", not "blocking calls".

Just because American-English has conditioned the world that "Off of" is the
same as "Off" doesn't mean that "of" has no meaning.

I don't know whether it's anticompetetive to block such calls, but it probably
hinges on whether we take telephone to mean "a telephone (traditional)", "any
device that looks and acts like a traditional telephone (e.g. USB skypephone)"
or "any system that carries speech between some number of particular persons
over some distance".

Depending on which you choose, you get a different answer and interpretation.
There was a local case recently where a ferry-bridge was classed as a bridge,
because it's on a chain fixed between two points, and the local authority
wanted it reclassified as a boat because it floats, so they could up the
harbour taxes 40x. The counter argument was that it only floats between two
points winching itself along a chain, what kind of useless "boat" is that?

As I see it, it's clearly not a good fit for either definition, and thus the
argument is completely pointless. This is similar - it's not at all a classic
phonecall, so don't treat it like that. They're providing a data service and
limiting the types of data that can be sent, that's what should be under
investigation. It's a nontechnical restriction designed to bump up profits.
Either limit the data rate or latency or max transfer allowance, or adjust
your charges to be profitable with increased use, but stay out of what it's
used for (legal concerns excepted).

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mdasen
As much as I hate carriers who block services, they have a point here.
Wireless calls typically use 8kbps. Next-generation codecs cut that to
4-5kbps. Skype, well, is wasteful. With most people's internet connections,
this doesn't matter. What's 20-60kbps? However, if everyone decided to use
Skype on their wireless, we'd hit capacity problems fast.

We'd also see the end of unlimited data. It would be metered in an official
manner and it would come out to a rate more expensive than voice because it
uses more network resources than voice. If a minute voice call uses 480kb and
a minute Skype call uses 1200kb, you can bet that the Skype call will cost you
double (or more).

The fact is that wireless networks are able to optimize their voice services
when it's voice. When it's data, it's just wasteful of bandwidth. That doesn't
matter over your cable modem. It matters on a shared wireless link that works
because it pushes the max on efficiency.

