Is BT Blocking VoIP?

from the moron-policies dept

We've discussed the issue of network neutrality before, where some application providers are afraid that the broadband network providers would configure their networks to block out (or maybe just degrade) those applications so they could push people to use their own applications. The issue has become so heated that many are calling on the FCC to pass a law guaranteeing "network neutrality." One of the main applications that is often used as an example is VoIP. If your cable modem or DSL service provider wanted to offer VoIP on their own, they could, in theory, block out all other independent VoIP providers and force you to use the house brand. Those against network neutrality legislation claim service providers would never do such a thing, because if it became public, they would get into all sorts of trouble with customers. Well, it sounds like we might find out if that's true over in the UK. Joi Ito points to someone who is suggesting that, over in the UK, BT has put in place a fairly simplistic, but obvious, block on most third party VoIP providers. All they're doing is blocking port 5060, which is often used by SIP servers. There's no confirmation yet on whether or not this is truly the case -- and it would (as Joi) suggests be a uniquely bad move on the part of BT. Hopefully, there's a better explanation to this -- but, otherwise, folks in the US may get a real world experiment about whether or not the market can handle network neutrality on its own. Update: Sounds like it was a misconfigured piece of hardware, rather than a specific move by BT.