Welcome to the world of SPIT, op SPam over Internet Telephony. It’s the latest craze for spammers and it’s causing headaches for VoIP providers like Skype. SPIT is very analogous to SPAM, where VoIP subscribers receive actual unsolicited telephone calls offering typical SPAM type products like organ enlargement or weight loss pitches. The difference with SPIT though is can be much more damaging to a VoIP providers network because of the large bandwidth bottlenecks it can create. If not kept in check, SPIT can cause serious quality of service problems for VoIP providers, leading to a potential competitive disadvantage.

The last thing VoIP providers need is more call quality problems. The reality of SPIT is it is quite rare on privately managed VoIP networks, like those offered by cable companies. It’s much more prevalent on public Internet VoIP services like Skype. There are ways to defeat it through filtering and firewall applications. As VoIP News reports, companies like NEC offer SPIT protection services.