Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Internet Tools, iPhone
T-Mobile demands sipgate nix VoIP software
Thilo Salmon, CEO of sipgate, Inc., wrote in to say that T-Mobile Germany has asked his company to cease and desist offering the company's flagship VoIP software.
In the letter from its lawyers, T-Mobile claims that sipgate is making the jailbreak process appear more attractive, which could lead customers to breaching their contracts.
According to Salmon, T-Mobile disallows jailbreaking, running VoIP, instant messaging, and VPN applications as part of its subscriber contract. Salmon notes, however, that sipgate only works via WiFi (and not GPRS or EDGE), and therefore does not run on T-Mobile's network. He says, "for the time being our users are safe."
sipgate doubts the legal veracity of the argument, and said it does not plan to comply with the order. Salmon said "we may need to fight this all the way through the courts." He also suggests that it's largely a government policy issue for Germany, and wants to lobby for a net-neutral environment for telecom carriers.
Tempest in a teacup? Apparently, it's a big deal in Germany. What, if any, "chilling effect" this will have on other VoIP software providers remains to be seen.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mario Panighetti said 5:29PM on 7-16-2008
"T-Mobile demands sipgate nix VoIP software"
That title reads like a spam email subject line.
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flintstone03 said 5:29PM on 7-16-2008
Wow, this only seems distantly related to anything apple, the only connection is that Tmobile provides the iPhone in Germany.
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Brian said 5:55PM on 7-16-2008
Maybe you should read http://www.sipgate.com/faq.html or even just read...
Ryan Trevisol said 5:55PM on 7-16-2008
While it's not explicitly mentioned, it's over an iPhone app, an iPhone app that requires jailbreak.
Still, legality of hacking the phone's software isn't T-Mobile's fight, it's Apple's. Apple provides the software, not T-Mobile. Now, if it was any other phone, like an T-Mobile-branded Motorola that you can flash with a non-restricted operating system, that would be different. There, T-Mobile is the pseudo-source of the phone's software, and makes the decisions over what features and apps will and will not be available. In this instance, all those decisions are made by Apple.
flintstone03 said 6:45PM on 7-16-2008
You guys are right, I'm just retarded and read the post too quickly. My apologies.
Andrew said 6:52PM on 7-16-2008
You mean VoIP software that runs on Apple's iPhone is not related to Apple? A legal issue relating to the use of your iPhone in Germany is not relevant to this blog? I think not.
punkassjim said 5:35PM on 7-16-2008
Maybe it's just me, but the whole VoIP-on-iPhone thing kinda sounds like "hey, sell me a device with which I can circumvent your business model." To which, T-Mobile responds with two sentiments: 1) "No," and 2) "if you want to NOT use our services, please don't ask us to sell you the phone with which you will be doing that. Thanks."
That said, I don't think T-Mo should be forcing Sipgate to cease and desist. I think they should take the issue up with Apple's development team to ensure the platform is protected.
(of course, I say this even though I'd be absolutely disappointed if they did clamp it down)
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Awado said 5:39PM on 7-16-2008
What Salmon said, smells like the usual T-Mobile problem. There's no straight line what to do for an employee. You can ask five times the same question and get five different answers.
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Tony said 8:52PM on 7-16-2008
'Lead customers to breaking their contracts'?
It's not like the jailbreak can give users some magic way to get out of a legally binding contract. Even if they jailbreak and unlock and sell the phone on ebay they still have a contract.. and still have to pay every month. T-Mobile suffer no loss, so I don't see what legal point they have.
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Justin said 9:24PM on 7-16-2008
What I find amusing is that a friend of mine was visiting the day before we left to go by iPhones. He had TMobile (US). The call to the CS rep at tmobile was on speakerphone... the rep actually told my friend that if he were to wait a few weeks, it would be jailbroken and he could remain with tMobile and still get an iPhone. Not sure if that's a common tactic, but I find it funny that they "think different" depending on if it's Germany (losing end) or US (winning end).
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Unregistered said 1:16AM on 7-17-2008
T mobile needs to start getting with the times.. VOIP is here to stay, so why not start its own VOIP service?
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Wing said 3:09AM on 7-17-2008
It's called T-Mobile Hotspot@Home
Voip Software said 2:36AM on 8-02-2008
http://www.voip-services-provider.co.uk
Voice over IP (VoIP) software is used to conduct telephone-like voice conversations across the internet. There are many free VOIP Software available on the webs for download. VOIP Software is popular because VOIP phone service is often cheaper than traditional phone service, and is becoming more popular for both business and personal calls.
Voip Software
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