Subject: [NEXTEL-1] J.P. on VoIP & Internet reg.

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 11:17:27 -0500

VoIP still needs breathing room

By Jeff Pulver

December 11, 2003

In recent weeks, the prospect of Americans using high-speed broadband
connections to make phone calls over the Internet has created a palpable
buzz in tech circles.

Battered telecommunications companies see the potential for large new
markets, technologists see the potential to deliver innovative new services,
and consumers see the potential for vast improvements in how they
communicate.

So with all this good news, why are federal regulators poised to play
Scrooge this holiday season and tie this promising technology in red tape?

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission held a forum to discuss how
Internet calling should be regulated. This is a prelude to what the agency
calls a "notice of public rule making," which is its usual first step to new
regulation -- in this case, possible regulation of the Internet.

Officially, the FCC says it is just taking these actions to "gather public
comment on the appropriate regulatory environment" for Internet calling.
Forgive me for being skeptical, but there is just too much potential at
stake.

One person who does not have the slightest doubt that the FCC is ready to
begin choking this promising technology in federal regulation is Reed Hundt,
the commission's former chairman. Earlier this month, speaking to a
convention of wireless Internet users, he issued a stark warning that the
federal government had Internet calling in its sight. "I ran this agency,"
Hundt said. "I know you should be suspicious."

Specifically, Hundt said recent statements from the FCC indicate that
Monday's hearing will be mostly a formality and that the decision had
already been made to begin regulating. Such a move, he said, would stifle
innovation, boost costs to consumers and protect the traditional phone
companies from the technological advances low-cost or free Internet calling
services create.

The FCC seems to be rushing to judgment. FCC Chairman Michael Powell (See
http://news.com.com/2008-1037-5084808.html?tag=nl)
recently said the commission will waive the usual public-comment period
after the hearing. Powell wrote to Senator Ron Wyden and indicated that the
rule-making discussions will commence "shortly after the hearing" on Dec. 1.

As someone who has enthusiastically watched the emergence of Internet
communications, it is incredibly disappointing and dismaying to me that the
federal government -- or states, for that matter -- would even consider
applying traditional phone regulations to any type of Internet
communications at this early stage. Instead, they should reaffirm the
longstanding U.S. policy of keeping information and Internet services
unregulated -- especially as technologies mature and broader phone policies
are reformed.

A move to bring Internet calling under state or federal phone regulations
makes no sense. Despite the significant buzz Internet telephony is creating,
it's still unproven on a mass-market scale, and it's still just an emerging
technology in terms of the types of innovation in communications that may
eventually emerge.

If the FCC does decide to move ahead with regulating voice over Internet
Protocol (VoIP), it may do so on an incremental basis. Instead of creating
one massive new set of regulations and taxes on all Internet voice calls,
the commission will probably start small and build up -- opening the door to
broader regulation of the Internet. That's why it's so important to stop any
type of Internet communication regulation -- before the regulators gain a
toehold in regulating the Internet.

The Internet has succeeded in large part precisely because government
regulators have agreed to hold off on regulation. That has allowed promising
technologies to flourish -- or fail -- on their own. The FCC owes it to
consumers to continue that policy when it comes to something with as much
unfulfilled potential as Internet voice communication.

 http://news.com.com/2010-7352-5113949.html

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