Looks like the empire is finding new ways to fight back - according
to FreeConference.com, another rural-ISP free-calling operator, major
carriers Cingular, Qwest and Sprint are actively blocking users
trying to call FreeConference.com, claiming it might be a violation
of those carriers’ acceptable use policies.
FreeConference.com, which offers "free" conference calls for the
price of a long-distance call to numbers in Iowa or Minnesota, sent
an email to its users saying that Cingular (aka AT&T Wireless)
started blocking calls to FreeConference.com on March 9, with Qwest
and Sprint following suit soon thereafter. FreeConference.com CEO
Alex Cory told us in an email exchange today that the company "did
not get prior notice [about the blocking], nor have our or our
customers’ repeated attempts to get reasonable explanations gotten
anywhere." UPDATE: An AT&T spokesperson confirmed the company is
blocking the calls.
While the blocking doesn’t seem to be a blanket move - we were able
to get through to FreeConference.com this morning using a Cingular
handset in California - Cory says that any blocking, even limited
blocking, "is unacceptable." Langauge from a Cingular user forum
shows why Cingular may believe it is right to block such services:
We may block access to certain categories of numbers (e.g. 976,
900 and certain international destinations) or certain web sites
if, in our sole discretion, we are experiencing excessive billing,
collection, fraud problems or other misuse of our network.
AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel said the company is blocking "certain
numbers" for conferecing services, including FreeConferece.com’s, an
action it feels appropriate under its wireless terms of service
agreements. AT&T’s wireless service, he said, is for calls "between
one person and another person, not between one person and many."
Cory, who says that FreeConference.com’s regulatory-fee arbitrage
compensation structure isn’t on the same level as the free
international calling plans (he claims all FreeConference.com’s calls
are actually terminated in the local area where they are connected),
doesn’t agree with Cingular’s take but will not comment much further
- "We believe they are violating [regulations], but it is probably
best to leave this to the lawyers."
Theoretically, AT&T could be on the hook for multiple
call-termination charges for the conference calls, since each
participant in the conference could count as another termination - so
it’s pretty clear why they might try to use any method at their
disposal to discourge such operations.
Typically, long-distance or cellular providers pay local telcos a
termination fee for each call that is completed. In rural areas where
regional telcos have higher-than-usual termination fees, telcos and
free-calling concerns have partnered to build businesses where some
amount of profit is based on the spread between what the
call-completion costs and what they charge the long-distance
provider.
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
NEWS: Cingular, Qwest blocking ‘Free’ Calls 
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