EU spurs Internet phone market

The European Commission is seeking to promote the development of cheap long-distance Internet telephone calls, urging all 25 nations of the EU to take a light touch on regulating the new industry. The new technology, Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), is growing quickly in Japan and the United States but Europe lags behind, the Commission said on Friday. Telecommunications regulators from the 25-nation bloc and the European Commission met in Brussels to clear the way for the the industry to grow more quickly in Europe.