Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

Convicted hacker Robert Moore, who is set to go to federal prison this week, says breaking into 15 telecommunications companies and hundreds of businesses worldwide was incredibly easy because simple IT mistakes left gaping technical holes. Moore, 23, of Spokane, Wash., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and is slated to begin his two-year sentence on Thursday for his part in a scheme to steal voice over IP services and sell them through a separate company. While prosecutors call co-conspirator Edwin Pena the mastermind of the operation, Moore acted as the hacker, admittedly scanning and breaking into telecom companies and other corporations around the world.

According to DSL Reports, Moore wasn’t all that bright — considering he made only $20,000 out of the more than one million dollars in illegal profit, the majority of which went to 23-year-old mastermind Edwin Pena. Pena, a Miami "consultant," secretly routed some 500,000 calls through compromised Net2Phone systems

Information week

Source: voipcentral.org

IDT Corporation and Net2Phone have signed a merger agreement under which IDT acquires Net2Phone. According to the terms and condition described in the agreement, NTOP Acquisition, a subsidiary of IDT would merge with and into Net2Phone and Net2Phone would continue as the surviving corporation. If the merger takes place, each issued and outstanding share of common stock and Class A common stock of Net2Phone would be cancelled and converted automatically into the right to receive $2.05 in cash without interest. It is the same price per share which was paid by IDT in its tender offer for Net2Phone common stock that expired after an offer period on January 27, 2006 in which IDT acquired 31.6 million Net2Phone shares. Following merger, Net2Phone would become a privately held, wholly owned subsidiary of IDT and the shares of Net2Phone common stock would seize to be quoted on the Nasdaq. Both the Net2Phone board of directors have unanimously approved the transaction following the recommendation of the Independent Committee of the Net2Phone board of directors and IDT board of directors.

via [Businesswire]

Source: voipcentral.org

While we had been discussing a lot about VoIP players like Skype and Vonage, we virtually ignored Net2Phone, one of the oldest players in the bazaar.

In this short piece, I will discuss the real value of Net2Phone.

1. Old brand. Known to places for a long time where Internet telephony is not yet legal, nonetheless people using it. Like in India, virtually every cyber caf that provides Internet telephony, Net2Phone is a popular service and had been since quite a few years now. So when companies like Skype are entering newer markets like Asian markets, they would find the presence of Net2Phone already!

2. Net2Phone is a part of MySpace, the most popular community builder. So when we talk about Voice 2.0 and building communities, Net2Phone has the advantage here. In fact, Russell Shaw writes in his blog;

I keep on thinking about Net2Phone as a component of MySpace.com. What a shot in the arm for social networking! And because MySpace is owned by News Corp., I envision the conglomerate’s powerful multimedia marketing machine really pushing Net2Phone, driving subs and valuations higher.

3. Rupert Murdoch factor. Net2Phone can be incorporated in the businesses owned by the Media Moghul. Imagine a Net2Phone click to call button on each of Rupert Murdochs online news properties! Example a scenario where you can connect directly to an advertiser in one of his online classifieds sections through Net2Phone!

4. Russell Shaw wonders if it can do better than sub $1000 a subscriber as it turns out to be so without even factoring in the contractual valuations. I would definitely say YES. It can do better because of the above reasons. Besides, due to the above factors, I really see the number of subscribers increasing substantially in the coming future.