VoIP You

• [Daily Post from my people] Quick, Get Your Dad a Gift

"Here's a tip: your dad has more ties than he needs, and no one wants to get socks on a holiday. Why not make your dad's life a little easier...or at least get him something cool?"

• The Jeff Pulver Blog: The Internet Tax May Be Creeping Up on Us in the Guise of Imposing the Universal Service Fund on Internet-delivered Voice Applications

"I have to reiterate that many, if not all, of the current regulations do not make sense in a world where voice is an application riding on top of broadband transmission services. The current Universal Service Fund ("USF") contribution methodology, which requires service providers to determine whether its revenues are derived from intrastate vs. interstate or international services, telecom services vs. information services, or even customer premises equipment ("CPE"), is one of the many regulatory schemes that no longer work in a geographically irrelevant, converged, IP-enabled world."

• Digital Common Sense: CallerID the next generation

"Want to win my business in the next generation? Based on the plethora of phone calls I got yesterday, give me Caller IQ. I’ll pay for that!"

• Fractals of Change: Internet Neutrality – Tough Issue

"If the telcos have their way, the Internet in the US COULD become as innovation-free as the phone networks and as content-challenged and inflexible as the cable networks."

• IP Democracy: The missing 11th amendment and net neutrality

"Maybe a growing appreciation for the value of “freedom from monopolies in commerce” can help explain the fact that the NRA is among those who support network neutrality. Perhaps there’s a sense shared by many on the “left” and “right” that it’s not just the government that can exert too much power to restrict individual freedoms, but also large corporations that enjoy great market power AND great political power, the latter achieved in large measure through “investing” some portion of the economic surplus acquired via economic power in political lobbying, campaign contributions and access to mass media, which have historically been relatively few, expensive and powerful political megaphones."

• CRN: Residential VoIP to boom to 44 million users

"Trends driving VoIP adoption will be mobility, simplicity, and a need for on-demand telephony, the report says. Simple setup requirements will make consumers more comfortable with the technology, and the ability to access IP telephony not just at home, but while traveling will be a driver as well."