[Asterisk-biz] Israel to block International VoIP calls?

[C F]

Interesting article.
In June 2003 I flew to Israel to set up a branch office for my then
employer. My job on the trip included:
* Work with Bezek (the Israeli version of the US AT&T before the '80s)
to setup a data E1 to the internet.
* Setup the local network and the remote network (back to the US) connectivity.
* Look into setting up a local PBX that could in the long run be
integrated with the US PBX using VoIP.

At that time Tadiran looked to be the winner for the PBX (I didn't'
know about Asterisk yet), however because of the time zone difference,
and the type of work involved at that time, Voice communications
between the offices was not really needed - they work from 8 am to 2
pm Israel time (+2) while we here in the US work 9-5 (-5) which means
that by the time they are done working we are still sleeping - so my
employer decided not to invest in such an expensive PBX. One of the
problems I ran into was that I was told by Bezek it is illegal in
Israel to route calls using VoIP without a license as an international
phone company, when I asked him to give me docs supporting that, he
did so. I read thru them, and then told him that it is only meant for
providers, or reselling calling cards, but a business internally is
allowed to do whatever they want. He went on to ask his legal
department and they agreed with me.
The point, I was very surprised to see that Israel has such laws that
still gives Bezek the control to stay the monopoly. But they do, it is
illegal in Israel to open a VoIP company like what we can do here
(which is getting harder here as well because of the 911 requirments).
 Unless you have a license as a phone company.


On 12/16/05, Paul <digium-list at 9ux.com> wrote:
> But you did respond and you insinuated he is a coward.
>
> In case you don't know - some of us use "temporary" email addresses for
> list subscriptions. If you post to a list your address gets harvested by
> the spammers. When the spam volume gets too high, you resubscribe with a
> new address and kill the spambait address. I have good antispam software
> on my network but I don't want to increase the quarantine volume on
> addresses I intend to keep. One address I have in use since 1996 gets
> over 300 messages quarantined a day. I don't even bother reviewing the
> quarantine anymore. The messages get deleted after 7 days. Newer
> addresses I use for business purposes get fewer messages quarantined so
> I am easily able to identify any valid messages that somehow got
> quarantined. So you can see why I would not want to expose currently
> manageable addresses to the harvesters.
>
> Anyway, it's nice to have a regulator on the list. I am in the US but
> perhaps I can vent my frustrations with the FCC on whatever target is
> within reach :)
>
> Are you offering any good cash rewards to those of us who inform on our
> fellow asterisk users? A lot of us need capital.
>
> Yair Hakak wrote:
>
> >I do not respond to posts from cowards who hide behind alaises.
> >
> >-yair
> >
> >
> >On 12/16/05, Mister Asterisk <mister.asterisk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>To call the Israeli regulatory regime progressive - is similar to Fidel
> >>Castro heading the Progressive Peoples Parrty....
> >>
> >>On 12/16/05, Yair Hakak < yair at hakak.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>.s. our formal VoIP policy is coming soon, and i will post it here whe it
> >>>
> >>>
> >>is ready. I am sure you will all like it, it is very
> >>
> >>
> >>>progressive.   (ma)
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>On 12/16/05, Jean-Michel Hiver < jhiver at ykoz.net> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>JP Carballo a écrit :
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>>I may be guessing as to the content of the following site as I cannot
> >>>>>access the full article, but if anyone has read the whole thing I,
> >>>>>(and others too I hope), would be interested to know.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000034211&fid=942
> >>
> >>
> >>>>>Apologies if this was posted earlier and I just missed reading it in
> >>>>>the flood of * emails....
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/voip/israel-not-blocking-voip.asp
> >>
> >>
> >>>>I find it funny in the article when they describe companies that do
> >>>>international bypass as "piratical". I guess when you don't like
> >>>>competition, you start calling people "pirates" (yarrrr!) and
> >>>>"terrorists". Soon we'll have a "VoIP funds terrorism" campaign, you'll
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>see.
> >>
> >>
> >>>>Personally I think the grey route market is only a natural response to a
> >>>>severe market distortion. Phones companies want people to believe it's
> >>>>much more expensive to call overseas because it's, well, "overseas" when
> >>>>the overhead cost is in fact minimal.
> >>>>
> >>>>And they also want arbitrary "call termination" charges on their network
> >>>>which is beyond comprehension to me. It's like saying "to you the price
> >>>>is X but to you the price is Z, essentially for the same service".
> >>>>
> >>>>But y'all know that already so I'm not preaching in the right place :)
> >>>>
> >>>>Cheers,
> >>>>Jean-Michel.
> >>>>
> >>>>_______________________________________________
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> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
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> >>
> >>
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