Can VoIP（网络电话） Providers Block Certain Calls.ppt

Can VoIP（网络电话） Providers Block Certain Calls? /the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/10/can_voip_provid.html Last Updated: October 9, 2009 By: 07商务英语A班 29号 林童默 Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission(联邦通信委员会） sent a letter to Google, asking the search giant to explain how its Google Voice service works, how many people are using it, and how much money it makes — information Google has not disclosed（公开） publicly. The inquiry was launched a couple of weeks after ATT（美国电信电报公司） sent a letter to the FCC, alleging that Google may be “systematically blocking telephone calls…. in certain rural communities.” The inquiry raises a big question: Do providers of over-the-Web calling services have to complete all calls? As of today, such companies — called, in industry lingo（行话）, VoIP providers — aren’t considered to be telcos（电信运营商）, though they often act as such. Some of them, such as Skype, don’t charge for many services. And these Web-calling outfits（设备） aren’t required to complete all calls. Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge（公共利益团体）, writes that the FCC “inquiry should be more far-reaching （深远的）than this relatively isolated case. We learned recently that another VoIP provider, S, reserved（具有；保持） the right to block calls to rural areas.” There’s another aspect to this inquiry, of course: ATT and its supporters are firing back（回击） at Google after being grilled（盘问） by the FCC over delays in approving Google Voice mobile app（应用程序）. On Oct. 6, ATT announced that it will abolish its old practices and allow Web-calling applications onto its wireless network. It’s unclear whether, under ATT’s definition, Google Voice qualifies as such an app. Words Expressions Disclose: 公开; 透露: Outfit: 全套装备; 全套工具; 全部用品: Far-reaching: 影响深远的 Reserve: a. 保留或储备某物 b.具有或保持（某种权利）; Fire back: 回击 Grill a. 烧烤, 炙烤（食物） b. 盘问（某人）: App: 应用 (程序), 操作, 使用 (包括电脑程序); Industry lingo：行话 Words Expressions Federal Communications Commission (FCC联邦通信委员会) ATT（美国