Blocking VoIP

With VoIP becoming an ever more popular form of communication many ISPs and telecommunication companies are blocking VoIP communications or hampering them in order to slow down the up take of the technology as it directly out competes many of their own services.

The action s of these companies blocking VoIP communications mirrors the actions of the music industry when they tried to stop and prevent the downloading of music. Instead of embracing the technology as a means to create extra revenue they wasted time and money trying to stop a technology which was never going to be stopped. Today we see records going to number 1 in the charts simply through iTunes sales.

Companies blocking VoIP will not stop the technology but simply anger their customers and damage their reputation. Comcast has already been accused of blocking VoIP or hampering with VoIP services. This has already damaged their reputation as a result. Blocking VoIP services rather than embracing the technology can only damage a companies long term success.

One company called Narus which is based in California specializes in providing the tools for blocking VoIP communication. This is the company that is providing the Chinese government with the toolkit for blocking VoIP landline and cell phone services worldwide for the next 2 years. More on this here.