It seems Russian communications providers have broadened the definition of RA – to include blocking VoIP.
It is obvious Skype and IM erode prime revenues for any telco. The question that matters is whether they can find alternatives to compensate. It seems Putin and his buddies came up with a simpler solution: say Skype is a threat to national security (no one can argue with that) and, by the way, also a threat to the personal wealth of a few super-rich individuals.
I hadn’t conducted any further research whether this modus vivendi occurs between Skype and other countries or operators. It seems the old saying that “pornography is a matter of geography” also applies to RA.
