Atty. JJ Disini writes that the Supreme court has junked a criminal case filed by PLDT against third parties connecting VoIP-initiated calls to local landlines.
PLDT lost its Supreme Court case where it tried to float the idea that so-called “International Simple Resale” (ISR) constituted the crime of “theft” of telephone calls and/or PLDT’s business … The Supreme Court decision is a crushing defeat for PLDT since it ruled that telephone calls are not the property of PLDT, but to the callers themselves.
This sets an interesteing precedent in the local VoIP business setting. For instance, earlier reported was a case wherein Globe filed criminal complaints to a group that connected VoIP calls to local mobile phones. But now the VoIP-to-mobile operators can cite this case in their defense, with the Supreme Court, no less, making the ruling.
This doesn’t go the same for civil complaints, though.