[governance] ISPs, PTA lock horns over illegal VoIP

[Milton L Mueller]

Why does your government make VoIP illegal to begin with? VoIP has the ability to save internet and telecom users hundreds of dollars a year. It is nothing more than a software application. I suppose the politicians who support these bans are the same ones asking for international development funds to combat the digital divide....

--MM

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Fouad Bajwa [mailto:fouadbajwa at gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 6:38 PM
> To: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> Subject: [governance] ISPs, PTA lock horns over illegal VoIP
> 
> ISPs in Pakistan resist regulator's attempts to impose
> authoritarianism over the region's internet as follows:
> 
> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\06\18\story_18-6-
> 2009_pg5_7
> ISPs, PTA lock horns over illegal VoIP
> By Muhammad Yasir
> 
> KARACHI: The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) has asked Pakistan
> Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to establish its own mechanism to
> detect Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) with their funds deposited
> in various accounts.
> 
> The Internet Services Providers of Pakistan (ISPAK) has played down
> PTA directives asking them to set up expensive systems for the
> detection and monitoring of illegal voices traffic available unlimited
> on internet. Recently, the PTA asked ISPs to detect and monitor all
> sorts of voice over traffic and internet protocols recently for the
> safeguard of other telecommunication sector.
> 
> ISPAK Convener Wahaj us Siraj said PTA has invested a huge amount of
> operators' contribution for installation of such a facility and this
> matter has to be tackled by PTA itself instead of passing on
> additional burden on ISPs. He said the ISPs could install the VoIP
> monitoring and mitigating facility if PTA provides funding for such a
> facility as the industry is already in debt due to selling below the
> costs and anti competitive practices. There are more than 50 ISPs
> operating across the country. As per policy, they contributed 0.5
> percent of their revenue to Universal Service Fund (USF); 0.1 percent
> on the account of Research and Development and hundreds of thousands
> of fee charges for renewal of licences. ISPs cannot take any action
> against any customer doing illegal VoIP as they are lacking statutory
> powers to do so, he said and added that if PTA informs of illegal
> activity done by any customer to the concerned ISP, the ISPs' action
> can only be limited to locking that customer's account and providing
> customer details to PTA.
> 
> ISPs also termed PTA's action of blocking the IP addresses on internet
> gateways without any prior notification and evidence as insufficient.
> They said they had been suffering badly, which has been brought to the
> notice many times in recent past to the regulator.
> 
> PTA has its automated blocking of IP addresses that carry illegal
> voice traffic that is termination and/or origination of voice packets
> in a bid to check grey traffic flowing into the country
> 
> On the other hand, Chairman PTA Dr Muhammad Yaseen told Daily Times
> that setting up of VoIP system is not a rocket science that could not
> be done by ISPs without the assistance of authority.
> 
> They only need to install software on their network to block illegal
> traffic of voices, which they are reluctant to do, he said adding that
> there are scores of culprits violating authority's law under the very
> nose of ISPs. Dr Yaseen added that the authority has warned all the
> ISPs again and it has decided to conduct massive operation against all
> the illegal traffic users as per prescribed laws. He further said the
> ISPs should cooperate with the authority to stop illegal practices
> instead of supporting users' violating watchdog's laws.
> 
> PTA announced publicly that all (registered) call centres should
> provide their IP addresses to PSEB to make sure that their voice
> traffic is not blocked. Since the inception of technical facility in
> May 2008 at the PTA, the IP addresses found to be involved in illegal
> activities were being blocked manually and in the process, over 14
> million minutes (worth around Rs 100 million) have been saved on
> monthly basis. Now these would be automatically blocked if any IP, not
> authorised to carry voice is found doing so. Under the current policy,
> only LDIs and international call centres are authorised to carry voice
> across national boundaries.
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