It's a money thing. If you sell a 50 seat pbx, the phones cost more than the PBX. Thats a big slice Digium were missing out on. Fewer and fewer people buy telephony cards these days, so something has to fill that gap.

Just to say XMPP fans can join the call from gmail ( with xmpp) by calling voipusersconference@gmail.com from inside gmail. You'll get voice and IM in the same interface.

The thing with NI in this country is that it is non-linear. It is only paid on the first £20k (roughly) and more than half of it it is paid by employers (over and above salary). I doubt that the Finns have such a crazy system. The effect of NI is that it is cheaper to pay overtime to your existing workforce than to hire in a few more people to add capacity. Thats why it has always been seen as a tax on jobs. I don't think that logic applies in a recession, but it may when we are on the upswing and orderbooks fill up.

I'm sorry but what part of that is a revelation ? Skype, the telcos and even the ringtone boys have known all of that for years. It's just the web that got all hung up not understanding the difference between the two meanings of free. If only Berners-Lee had spoken Dutch!