Worried about Spam Over Internet Telephony? Well, then, get ready for ...

The specter of overseas telemarketers using cheap IP Telephony connections to send buckets of automated pitches yourway has long been discussed. The phenomenon is called "SPIT," or Spam Over Internet Telephony.

The good news is that carriers and ISPs are having a fair amount of success devising algorithms that protect against these automated calls.

The bad news is that these algos don't really defend against VoIP calls dialed by humans - say, in an overseas call center.

Internet News has a piece on this latest phenomenon. The story's title is "VoIP to Fuel Plague of 'Dialing for Dollars."

In the article, Burton Group analyst Fred Cohen explains the multi-faceted nature of this threat - which he calls a "plague."

"Cohen says the inescapable trouble comes from real people using inexpensive PCs to make the calls," he tells Internet News."That makes it harder for Internet service providers (ISPs) to prevent blocks of calls coming from a specific block of IP addresses."

Cohen adds that when these VoIP-using telemarketerscall you from overseas, they are able to do an end-run around the U.S. Government's"Do-Not-Call" list.

Have you received automated or "human-dialed" telemarketing pitches over your VoIP connection? Let us know by posting a TalkBack.