India would not allow any access to VoIP calls as the IB (Intelligence Bureau) wants to block all Internet Telephony Services. It has asked the Department of Telecom (DoT) to block VoIP services to and from the country.
According to TRAI, over 130 million minutes of internet telephony conversation happened in the Q1 of 2009 and there are 34 ISPs who provide NET telephony service in India (legally).
According to a report, the IB has asked the DoT to block the calls until a mechanism has been put into place to track these calls. Terrorists have continuously been making use of such internet telephony services as they are aware that India doesn’t possess any mechanism to track such calls.
Cyber security expert Vijay Mukhi said that IB should have issued such directions immediately after the 26/11 terror attacks. “The terrorists used net telephony as they were aware that India did not have the technological capabilities to do a live trace of such calls.
In the US and Europe, all players who offer VoIP services have provisions that allow governments to track these calls. Many of them have also installed equipment at their premises to monitor VoIP calls upon orders from governments,” he added.
“In the absence of Caller Line Identification (CLI) parameters of calls landing from abroad, it’s next to impossible to identify the country of location of the caller,” another IB sources said.
The IB has asked the govt to consider blocking VoIP provider Skype as well after the VoIP company refused to accept India’s request to share the encryption code making it difficult for the IB to decipher conversations of suspected terrorists.
Skype, however, has shared its encryption code with the US, China and other governments.
The ban could affect thousands of people within and outside India who make cheap phone calls via VOIP services from Skype, Google, Yahoo and Windows Live. Scares?
