[liberationtech] Psiphon keeping VoIP calling alive in Morocco

[Pranesh Prakash]

Dear all,
While I in no way support the ban on VoIP in Morocco, I would urge all 
of you to look at the larger picture of economic regulation of Internet 
companies as well.

The global tax regime is inequitable in the way only a few countries are 
able to impose corporate taxes on entities that gain revenue from the 
world over.

While telecom companies have to contribute parts of their profits to 
governments, often through universal service obligations, VoIP companies 
based abroad have no such obligations to contribute to the countries 
from whose citizens they make profits.

So, while a VoIP ban is not warranted, painting it simply as 
"censorship".  Indeed, in the US multiple telecom carriers prohibit VoIP 
services like Google Voice on their mobile networks, and it doesn't get 
painted in such stark terms (despite being just as unjustified).

Regards,
Pranesh

Keith McManamen <k.mcmanamen at psiphon.ca> [2016-03-08 18:09:56 -0500]:
> Dear LibTech colleagues,
>
> On January 5th, Moroccan telecom providers and national regulatory
> authority the ANRT slammed the door shut on free calling services such as
> Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Facetime, and other VoIP providers. As the battle
> over VoIP services wages on in Morocco, netizens continue to find access
> around government censorship via the Psiphon network.
>
> Our latest blog entry tells of the VoIP saga thus far in 2016. You can find
> out more at the link below:
>
> https://psiphon3.com/en/blog/morocco-voip.html
>
> Best,
> Keith
>
>
>

-- 
Pranesh Prakash
Policy Director, Centre for Internet and Society
http://cis-india.org | tel:+91 80 40926283
sip:pranesh at ostel.co | xmpp:pranesh at cis-india.org
https://twitter.com/pranesh