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 <[email protected]> [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:[email protected] | xmpp:[email protected]
https://twitter.com/pranesh
--
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