Here are some news stories that look to be important things to considerr. Catching up today, these are ones that caught my eye as really being newsworthy and important.

VoIP Patents: Innovation and Lawsuits
Even as the wave of patents and possible investment in VoIP spawns innovation and new sales opportunities for tech titans, it's also likely to breed something else: litigation. Since 2005, VoIP pioneer Vonage has been battling five patent infringement lawsuits, including those from Sprint Nextel and Verizon.

The Patent & Trademark Office is approving patents aplenty for Internet-based calling. On Nov. 14 alone, it handed out a patent on what IBM Relevant Products/Services calls a "conversations computing system," and granted chipmaker Intel Relevant Products/Services a patent for a computer-based phone "eliminating the need for a telephone set."

Telling that to date the US Patend office has issued 2,049 VoIP-related patents. The spate of recent ones signals some widespread deployment of new ideas, but also, no doubt, heralds increased discrepancies as to who might be using technologies of others' patents. I'd look for some new ideas and some new lawsuits to follow.

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Network Analyzer targets triple-play market.

November 27, 2006 - Designed for monitoring and troubleshooting IPTV, VoIP, and data services, J6900A triple play analyzer detects and resolves signaling, transport, as well as voice, video, and data quality of experience problems. It provides essential measurements and key performance indicators that enable engineers to identify customer problems. Analyzer provides signal and media analysis for IPTV, VoD, and VoIP, as well as passive analysis and troubleshooting of user traffic in real time.

Press release excerpt
Agilent Technologies' Industry-First Triple Play Analyzer Helps Customers Increase Market Share with Single Test Solution for IPTV, VoIP, Data Services

Analyzer Accelerates Development, Deployment and Monitoring of Video, Voice and Data Services, Enabling Faster Time to Market

BERLIN, VON Europe Autumn 2006, Booth 204, Nov. 6, 2006 -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced a triple play analyzer for video, voice and data monitoring, analysis and troubleshooting that enables companies to capture broadband market share and revenue faster.

The Agilent J6900A is the most complete test tool for network equipment manufacturers and communication service providers who develop, install, maintain and troubleshoot new triple play voice, video, and data networks and services. This flexible analysis dramatically improves operational efficiency by offering a solution for all types of services under a single local or distributed platform. Efficiency is increased at least three times by having a single instrument for all types of services with drill-down capabilities to the root cause of problems. The analyzer provides a single instrument for all services testing, one user interface to learn and a consistent troubleshooting methodology.

Organizations have long been struggling with comprehensive testing tools that integrate across ervice offerings. This new offering from Agilent looks promising.

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The Air Is Free, and Sometimes So Are the Phone Calls That Borrow It
Darcy Padilla for The New York Times
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: November 27, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26 — Gary Schaffer looked out his window here last week to discover a reporter standing on his lawn, pirating his wireless Internet access to test a new mobile phone.

The phone, made by Belkin, is one of several new mobile devices that allow users to make free or low-cost phone calls over the Internet. They are designed to take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of wireless access points deployed in cafes, parks, businesses and, most important, homes.

The technology’s advocates say that as long as people are paying for high-speed Wi-Fi access in their homes, they should be able to use it as a conduit for inexpensive calls and an alternative to traditional phone service.

New York Times article generating a lot of buzz about WiFi VoIP phones. Given that the EULA for home-based broadband connections may have constraints about who uses the service and for what purpose, this just looks to be another reason to make sure your home wireless access point has implemented suitable a security profile.

See also - The Hype Around WiFi Phones and Wi-Fi Piggybacking: Not Just for Laptops Anymore

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Three bloggers’ debate continues

“Are VoIP service providers making a comeback?” is a nice blog entry by the always readable Om Malik and represents the latest in a blogging saga involving three interested parties, a currently intractable debate, lots of numbers, and spin. (Interesting, too, that in the burgeoning field of VoIP, we’re already talking about comebacks.)

This story on MyVoIPNews caught my eye as it highlights different opinions from Om Malik, Jon Arnold and Moshe Maeir. It's an interesting discussion and one I'm going to follow just a bit further before I weigh in myself. Interesting opinions there, and all valid in the right context.

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Skype bugging your network? Here's how to squash it

The Skype peer-to-peer protocol is designed to penetrate firewalls: experts emphasise the potential security risks of the Skype peer-to-peer protocol and say the use of Skype in a corporate network significantly increases traffic volumes. One company claims to have some tools to stop it.

Source: iTWire.com.au/Stuart Corner

German company, ipoque specialises in application- and user-aware traffic management and analysis systems. Its line of hardware traffic managers for gigabit and fast ethernet is claimed to provide "effective control of undesired network applications [including] file sharing in
peer-to-peer networks, instant messaging and VoIP, including Skype.

Another Skype blocking tool for the security conscious.

Technorati Tags: VoIP Patents, Agilent Technologies, Belkin, VoIP Security, Om Malik, Jon Arnold, Moshe Maeir, Skype, ipoque