FCC and Internet telephones

[Ernest Hua <hua@chromatic.com>]

Dost my ears deceive me?  Is this true?

Ern

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  FCC Asked to Stop Net Phones   

  A trade association of long distance phone service carriers has asked the 
Federal Communications Commission to halt companies from selling software and 
hardware products that enable use of the Internet for long distance voice 
services.
  In a statement from Washington, the America's Carriers Telecommunication 
Association says it "submits that it is incumbent upon the FCC to exercise 
jurisdiction over the use of the Internet for unregulated interstate and 
international telecommunications services."
  A growing number of companies sell such software with ancillary hardware for 
transmitting and receiving voice over the Net, which, says the statement, 
"creates the ability to 'by-pass' local, long distance and international 
carriers and allows for calls to be made for virtually 'no cost.'"
  "For example," adds the ACTA statement, "online service providers generally 
charge users around $10 for five hours of access and then around $3 for each 
additional hour. Five hours equals 300 minutes, divided by $10 is 3.3 cents 
per 
minute. The average residential long distance telephone call costs about 22 
cents per minute or seven times as much."
  Long-distance and international telephone service carriers must be approved 
by  the FCC to operate and must file tariffs before both the FCC and state 
public service commissions. All of these requirements are stipulated in the 
Communications Act of 1934 and the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
  Says ACTA, "Technology may once again be surpassing government's ability to 
control its proper use. However, the misuse of the Internet as a way to 
'by-pass' the traditional means of obtaining long distance service could 
result 
in a significant reduction of the Internet's ability to transport its ever 
enlarging amount of data traffic."
  Specifically, ACTA petitions the FCC to define the type of permissible 
communications that may be effected over the Internet.