EBay has said it hopes to explore new areas of Internet commerce, and voice has become a natural add-on service.

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TellMe has opted for an advertising-supported business model, but also intends to charge e-commerce sites for building and maintaining their voice services and it wants to take a cut on every purchase that is made through its system.

ECONOMIST: Internet

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been an influential voice during the debate, said the voluntary program was nothing more than a "springboard" to federal regulations that would take time and money away from efforts businesses already have under way to protect their networks.

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Charges for voice traffic may have fallen, but the sort of bandwidth necessary for e-commerce is still fearsomely expensive.

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One of the things that appears to have happened as a result of that is the Chamber of Commerce is now growing in its lobbying efforts and raising money and exercising a more aggressive political voice in the entire process.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing