VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol)

There are several legal issues that have been addressed as Voice over IP’s popularity has grown recently, but there are still several legal issues that have not been looked into yet. Some legal issues that have not been looked into yet are wiretapping and network neutrality. Some legal issues that have been looked into and laws made to help users are talked about below.

The United States and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are now making all Voice over IP companies who do not or can not support enhanced 911 to supply a sticker warning to tell users that 911 services are not available. There are several countries around the world that are threatened by the popularity of Voice over IP, and the future of their state owned telephone services. For instance Panama is now taxing Voice over IP, also it is an actual criminal offence in Ethiopia to even offer Voice over IP services, and it is legal to offer and use Voice over IP in India, but it is illegal to have Voice over gateways inside of India.

Voice over IP companies who offer services over a managed network may find that they must follow obligations dealing with price control and accounting separation. This is mainly because when Voice over IP is offered over a managed network it becomes a feasible alternative to traditional phones. On the other hand Voice over IP companies who offer their services over unmanaged networks is not considered a feasible alternative to traditional phones. This is mostly because on an unmanaged network the quality is considered to poor. So Voice over IP companies using unmanaged networks will usually not have any obligations to deal with, even if they are doing well in the market.