Jeff Pulver has reason to be concerned about the “sleeping giants”, if the recent action by AT&T/Cingular, Sprint and Qwest to block certain phone numbers of certain conference call providers is indicative of what they might do to Internet applications. These incumbents justify their actions by suggesting the conference call providers are essentially committing fraud and that they are within their bounds to block these numbers. One telecom expert who spoke to me on background, however, suggests that these carriers are on weak ground in taking the law into their own hands. Politically, this action could backfire as it could bolster the case for proponents of Net Neutrality.
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