I came across MagicJack via Stella Commute’s blog. MagicJack is a USB adapter for your PC which allows you to connect a regular [POTS] telephone with a normal RJ11 connector.

MagicJack charges about $20 a year and allows you to make ‘free’ long distance calls over the internet. Stella Commute is impressed with the system but Cory Doctorow for Boingboing is not.

Doctorow thinks you should read the EULA carefully before signing up for MagicJack.

According to Voip Watch Skype are now offering global POTS calling package for a monthly flat-rate.

Previously, the flat-rate charging was only available to USA and Canada based Skype customers.

Also available is a plan with almost global coverage for $9.95/month.

Montrealwatch notes that recent research suggests that 44% of telephony users in Quebec, Canada are now using IP telephony rather than POTS.

This is up from 16% from 2006 figures.

There are apparently a large number of IP telephony providers available in Quebec.