Look out Yahoo Messenger, MSN Windows Messenger and Skype! There's a new kid on the block named Google Talk. Google launched its Google Talk beta late yesterday (Aug. 23). The client software integrates with Gmail and the service is now open to Gmail users only.

The three Internet search rivals -- plus upstart Skype -- are now directly competing with each other on instant messaging (IM) and Internet telephony / voice over IP (VoIP) services.

Things just got a whole lot more interesting.

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The Washington Business Journal's Jeff Clabaugh reports that AOL is being sued for $200 million by a New York company that claims AOL's Internet telephony (VoIP) services violate a patent it holds.

Judah Klausner's Klausner Technologies claims that AOL is "violating Klausner's intellectual property rights by offering services in which subscribers receive visual notification of new voice messages, including caller identifying information, and can selectively retrieve voice messages using their displays."

The voice services that Klausner claims violate his patent include AOL Voicemail, AOL Call Alert, AOL by Phone and AOL VOIP Internet Phone Service -- essentially the entire AOL VoIP portfolio ...   more »

Canada's telecom regulator -- the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) -- ruled today that it would begin regulating voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) communications when used as a local telephone service.
 
It's a significant decision and I haven't yet had time to go through it, but from what I have gathered so far, the rationale behind the decision is that VoIP-based new entrants to the local phone market should have a fair and fighting chance to compete against the telecom giants -- known as incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) like Bell and Telus -- which could easily heavily ...   more »