VoIP Now: Communication Breakdown: 5 Growing Pains of Voice/ VoIP/ IP Communications

December 15, 2006

Communication Breakdown: 5 Growing Pains of Voice/ VoIP/ IP Communications

It's pure coincidence but as I'm working on this brief article, I've just finished hearing Led Zeppelin's classic Communication Breakdown song. Radio 3net has their own 500 top albums for listening for free online. Yeah, 500. And all the classics are there; all you need is Windows Media Player to listen.

That said, this is a brief overview of some of the issues that could make or break how widespread IP communications becomes. Or at least delay ubiquity.

Countrywide bans.
First, numerous countries in the Middle East and some in Asia (China, South Korea) either fully or partially banned VoIP services - except to the status quo providers in some cases. Then India, who recently allowed Yahoo to provide VoIP services, decided they were going to ban outside providers.
Jail sentences.
Seriously?! Vietnam sentenced a South Korean business man to 16 years in jail after he set up five VoIP systems in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). It's amazing to think that in the 21st century, there are still people in power who are short-sighted. Or do such people just gravitate to government? Why not absolve him, make him pay a provider fee and a fine, and actually utilize his entrepreunerial spirit? That would actually make sense. This is a similar VoIP crime to what five Asian men did in Namibia, but were out on bail.
e911, e999, emergency services.
Or lack of them. Let's not forget that 911 in the United States was not ubiquitous until, I believe, the late 80s. Still, that's no excuse. In E911 still struggling after 10 years, Wayne Rash says that there's a 16% chance your wireless 911 call won't go through, or that the emergency center won't know where you are. Sad but true. (I didn't know that it's been 10 years since the US FCC mandated e911, aka enhanced 911.) In the UK, they call it 999, and pending regulations by Ofcom (the regulator) could put lives at risk according to ITSPA (Internet Telephony Services Providers Association).
Perceived security issues re closed protocols.
I.e., Skype, which in some cases is the reason countries, corporations and universities have banned Skype in particular.
Wiretapping.
Let's not be naive. Several countries including those considered democracies already have widespread wiretapping in place, whether you know it or not. But Internet tech experts have openly said that architecting a backdoor into VoIP soft clients is not only very difficult but a bad idea.