Instant messaging and voice over IP (voip) programs are useful communication tools for both individuals and businesses, but they may also put users at risk for online harassment and cyberstalking. Voip Internet phone service provider voip.com offers important guidance on how to stay safe in the voiposphere.

In 2005, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) responded to 228,407 cyber complaints, including incidents of harassment and stalking. While most people view programs like Skype, ICQ, and Yahoo Messenger as a great way to keep in touch with friends, family or business contacts, others see them as fertile hunting grounds.

Commex Digital Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of low cost VoIP residential and small business phone services marketed through a network of independent associates has announced a new strategic partnership with the Brazilian church community, enabling members who become Associates of CDS to have unlimited phone service to Brazil for as little as $39.95 per month.

New Associates will also be able to earn both commission and residual income as part of the Commex Digital Solutions marketing program, with their sponsoring church or community organization receiving a percentage of monthly service fees.

iOpus, a provider of cost effective, cutting edge technology utilities that are both powerful and easy to use, announced this week that the iOpus Private Internet Gateway (iPig) will be available as a free beta product to consumers or end users worldwide, beginning today at Digital Life 2006. iPig is downloadable from the company’s website at http://www.iopus.com/ipig/download.

For Generation Y -- which is more than 70 million strong -- passing notes and pen pals have been replaced by instant messaging and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. And as wireless access to the Web expands around the country -- with more than 41,000 Wi-Fi sites nationwide, it's growing faster than cell phone networks did. And now there's a new way to connect to the web, and your friends using Wi-Fi with Sony's mylo personal communicator. This device allows you to send instant messages with Google Talk instant messaging service and Yahoo! Messenger. Registered Skype users can use the mylo communicator to make free Internet calls with the 113 million other Skype users. The embedded HTML browser lets you connect to full Web pages on the Internet and send and receive text emails with web mail services.

RedSky Technologies, Inc., the leading developer of E911 and other location information management solutions, announces enhancements to its Emergency On-site Notification (EON) product. An optional feature of the company's award-winning E911 Manager solution, EON notifies local security personnel, network administrators and corporate security administrators of 911 calls that are in progress within the enterprise and pinpoints the exact location of the caller so help can be sent where it's needed.

Actiontec Electronics announced the availability of VoSKY Exchange 9040 and 9080, new versions of its Skype PBX gateway for small and mid-sized businesses. The new stackable, rackmountable devices add four or eight outgoing Skype lines to the office PBX, allowing users to make and receive free and low-cost long-distance and international phone calls over the world's largest Voice over Internet Protocol network. A software upgrade also simplifies management and reporting.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) today cleared AT&T's merger with BellSouth. AT&T General Counsel James D. Ellis announced, "This unequivocal and unconditional approval underscores the competitive nature of our industry and the pro-competitive benefits of this merger. AT&T is focused on bringing more video choices and next-generation broadband services to as many consumers as possible and our merger with BellSouth will help deliver these benefits to more consumers, more quickly".

Meanwhile, the Competition Coalition, an organization concerned about the remonopolization of the old Ma Bell telephone network, held different throughts, "Unfortunately, by endorsing the largest telecommunications merger in history, the DoJ ignored the interests of consumers and the valid concerns raised by many experts and organizations that the reconstitution of Ma Bell will lead to higher prices, job cuts, violations of customer privacy, and a widening of the digital divide. AT&T, with the help of a complicit government, is poised to control nearly half of the nation’s phone lines, and will also be the largest wireless and broadband Internet company in the country."

Eyeball Networks Inc., a pioneer and world leader in VoIP, video telephony, and instant messaging software, announced Eyeball Any-FirewallT Engine, a comprehensive, standards-based NAT traversal Software Development Kit (SDK) for guaranteed VoIP call completion across NATs, firewalls, and Web proxies. VoIP service providers, application developers, and device makers can now deliver instant, seamless, and guaranteed connections between subscribers while benefiting from peer-to-peer (P2P) media delivery, low latency, and carrier-grade scalability.

8x8, Inc., provider of Packet8 (www.packet8.net) broadband Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and videophone communications services, announced that it was awarded two new U.S. Patents for VoIP technology on October 10, 2006.

Estacado Systems, a provider of real-time communication software products and services, announced a freely available version of its SIPWright Proxy Server. This release, Version 2.0, leverages a highly customizable message-processing framework to provide a general purpose SIP server that is easy to install, manage, and use. The server can provide SIP proxy, registrar, and redirect services.

"This proxy incorporates the most robust and standards-compliant SIP implementation available today," said Ajay Deo, CEO of Estacado Systems. "This free release gives educational institutions, carrier test labs, and enterprise IT departments a solid, easy-to-use building block for their networks."

Using the Internet to lower phone bills just got easier, thanks to the launch of Auvi's PHIP65 Dual Mode Cordless Phone. The sleek PHIP65 is the next generation of communication hardware which connects to a traditional landline and the computer, via USB port. This dual functionality gives consumers the freedom to make and receive both standard and / or Internet calls from a single cordless phone.

Designed to work with Skype Internet software, the PHIP65 enables individuals to use their Skype contact list at a push of a button to talk to other Skype users globally for free or make low cost calls through other Skype services. In addition, users can use their regular phone service for local calls.

Woize International Ltd. the digital communications provider, takes on challenging the Skype alike providers and announces plans to launch a Woize BETA client for Mac OS X in Q4.

Management believes that the launch of a Woize client for Mac OS challenges Skype and other similar Peer to Peer providers from a technical standpoint, since it will be fully SIP based and thereby give users the opportunity to interconnect with other SIP and P2P users worldwide.

In addition, management believes that the planned Woize client for Mac OS poses a threat as it, as all other Woize clients, will be free of charge. Woize users will be able to call outside the Woize community with no hidden start-up fees for In- or Out phone calls. A free phone number will be included in the Woize package and becomes available when signing up. And the same goes for voice mail, no extra monthly charges, it will be included and ready to use!

Covergence, the leader in scaling and securing access to VoIP and other real-time services based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), announced that iTalk Broadband Corporation (iTalkBB) will use its Eclipse SIP security solution to deliver the industry’s first secure residential VoIP service. With this new offering, iTalkBB – for the first time – will offer to its residential subscribers fully secure "bullet proof" access to the real-time, multi-modal applications and services that they demand.

This week at WiMAX World in Boston, ZyXEL Communications Inc., a leading provider of secure broadband networking, Internet connectivity and routing products, will announce the latest addition to their WiMAX product line with the MAX-200H and MAX-300 broadband gateway customer premise equipment (CPE). ZyXEL is the first to market with an all-in-one solution based on the IEEE802.16e-2005 standard that combines WiMAX, Wi-Fi, VoIP and security in a single box.

pulvermedia announced conference details and the speaker lineup for the VON Europe Autumn Conference & Expo, taking place in Berlin, 6-8 November at the International Congress Center (ICC).

Europe's largest and most influential IP communications event comes to Berlin to provide the opportunity to understand the issues and trends affecting the IP communications ecosystem, and it will help attendees learn more about the future direction of the industry. Topics covered at VON Europe Autumn include: