diff -r -u asterisk-1.4.22/channels/chan_sip.c asterisk-1.4.22-patched/channels/chan_sip.c
--- asterisk-1.4.22/channels/chan_sip.c	2008-09-08 23:10:10.000000000 +0200
+++ asterisk-1.4.22-patched/channels/chan_sip.c	2009-01-07 14:12:03.000000000 +0100
@@ -17702,10 +17711,15 @@
 	if (ucfg) {
 		struct ast_variable *gen;
 		int genhassip, genregistersip;
-		const char *hassip, *registersip;
+		const char *hassip, *registersip, *gentype, *type;
 		
 		genhassip = ast_true(ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, "general", "hassip"));
 		genregistersip = ast_true(ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, "general", "registersip"));
+		gentype = ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, "general", "siptype");
+		if (!gentype) {
+			gentype = "friend";
+			ast_log(LOG_DEBUG, "SIP type not specified in general section, assuming 'friend'\n");
+		}
 		gen = ast_variable_browse(ucfg, "general");
 		cat = ast_category_browse(ucfg, NULL);
 		while (cat) {
@@ -17713,18 +17727,31 @@
 				hassip = ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, cat, "hassip");
 				registersip = ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, cat, "registersip");
 				if (ast_true(hassip) || (!hassip && genhassip)) {
-					user = build_user(cat, gen, ast_variable_browse(ucfg, cat), 0);
-					if (user) {
-						ASTOBJ_CONTAINER_LINK(&userl,user);
-						ASTOBJ_UNREF(user, sip_destroy_user);
-						user_count++;
+					type = ast_variable_retrieve(ucfg, cat, "siptype");
+					if (!type) {
+						type = gentype;
+						ast_log(LOG_DEBUG, "user found: SIP type not specified, using general configuration: %s\n", type);
+					} else {
+						ast_log(LOG_DEBUG, "user found: SIP type specified:: %s\n", type);
 					}
-					peer = build_peer(cat, gen, ast_variable_browse(ucfg, cat), 0);
-					if (peer) {
-						ast_device_state_changed("SIP/%s", peer->name);
-						ASTOBJ_CONTAINER_LINK(&peerl,peer);
-						ASTOBJ_UNREF(peer, sip_destroy_peer);
-						peer_count++;
+					if (!strcasecmp(type, "user") || !strcasecmp(type, "friend")) {
+						ast_log(LOG_DEBUG, "generating SIP user ...\n");
+						user = build_user(cat, gen, ast_variable_browse(ucfg, cat), 0);
+						if (user) {
+							ASTOBJ_CONTAINER_LINK(&userl,user);
+							ASTOBJ_UNREF(user, sip_destroy_user);
+							user_count++;
+						}
+					}
+					if (!strcasecmp(type, "peer") || !strcasecmp(type, "friend")) {
+						ast_log(LOG_DEBUG, "generating SIP peer ...\n");
+						peer = build_peer(cat, gen, ast_variable_browse(ucfg, cat), 0);
+						if (peer) {
+							ast_device_state_changed("SIP/%s", peer->name);
+							ASTOBJ_CONTAINER_LINK(&peerl,peer);
+							ASTOBJ_UNREF(peer, sip_destroy_peer);
+							peer_count++;
+						}
 					}
 				}
 				if (ast_true(registersip) || (!registersip && genregistersip)) {
diff -r -u asterisk-1.4.22/configs/users.conf.sample asterisk-1.4.22-patched/configs/users.conf.sample
--- asterisk-1.4.22/configs/users.conf.sample	2007-11-28 23:30:46.000000000 +0100
+++ asterisk-1.4.22-patched/configs/users.conf.sample	2009-01-07 13:33:38.000000000 +0100
@@ -30,10 +30,15 @@
 ;
 vmsecret = 1234
 ;
-; Create SIP Peer
+; Create SIP user/peer
 ;
 hassip = yes
 ;
+; Specify SIP type, default is 'friend'
+; Can be overruled on a per-user basis by using siptype=....
+;
+;siptype = peer
+;
 ; Create IAX friend
 ;
 hasiax = yes
@@ -77,3 +82,5 @@
 ;hasmanager = no
 ;callwaiting = no
 ;context = international
+;siptype = peer
+