Re: FCC and Internet telephones

[sawyer@nextek.com (Thomas J. Sawyer)]

>  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."
>  "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."

It seems that once again, big business is trying to get in the way of
progress and competition because they are afriad they are going to lose
some money.  It seems to me that the ACTA is upset because someone found a
way to "do it cheaper" and the telco's stand to lose a lot of long distance
dollars.  So rather then using this technology and perhaps lowering LD
rates, instead they seek to block out the technology from the public.  I
wonder what would happen if someone discovered an drastically cheaper
alternative to gasoline, but it never made it main stream because the oil
companies would go out of business.  Seems like the same type of situation
with the telco's.

>  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."

No, the technology is surpassing the telco's ability to provide low-cost
communications.

>  Specifically, ACTA petitions the FCC to define the type of permissible
>communications that may be effected over the Internet.

Permissible communications?  This sounds like something out of the CDA ...
I say, just try and regulate it. I want to see the FCC try and monitor
several million computer transmissions every day and see how well
regulation works.


Thomas J. Sawyer
sawyer@nextek.com