FreeConference.com blocking and hogwash arguments

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Just another attempted rip off among the pack of rip offs the  
cellular industry uses. djf


Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: March 16, 2007 7:58:56 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: FreeConference.com blocking and hogwash arguments


Dave,

I've been reading some of the discussions where people are
speculating that wireless carriers' blocking of Freeconference might
be based on carrier concerns regarding "multiple termination fees."

That has got to be the biggest pile of nonsense I've seen in quite a
while.  When you make call, you're making an A->B connection to a
single destination.  That destination may play a message, connect
you to a single person locally, remotely, or perhaps to a conference
bridge.  In the bridge case, the other participants are calling in
separately and they each are terminated separately.  If various
persons are connected together through that bridge, it's no damned
business of the wireless carrier absent some sort of criminal
activity going on.

But then again, the carriers' actions in this regard are just the
sort of creepy, moneygrubbing "logic" we've come to expect from the
rapidly shrinking pool of cellular providers.  One of my favorites
has always been the way you get charged 2X airtime for call waiting
or 3-way cell calls, even though there's only one air channel open
to your phone.  Yes, more resources are being used at the network
end, but charging as if it were two completely separate calls to two
phones doesn't seem appropriate either.

It's well past time to tighten up the leashes on these guys.

"FCC Where Are You?"

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, IOIC
   - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
Founder, CIFIP
   - California Initiative For Internet Privacy - http://www.cifip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com




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