FCC won’t set rules for VoIP
VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) is, "probably the most significant paradigm shift in the entire history of modern communications, since the invention of the telephone," says US Federal Communications Commission chairman Michael Powell.
And, he said at the World Economic Forum, he’s not planning on setting rules for Internet telephony.
Companies offering VoIP have seen rapid growth as people embrace lower-cost communications online with quality comparable to traditional phones, says a Reuters story here which quotes Powell.
But, VoIP shouldn’t be confused with a normal telephone service – "It is not a telephone service; it is a voice application, completely indistinguishable from any other kind of application that can run on an IP network.
"If you’re going to say to me that voice over IP is something that needs regulation, then you’re going to have to explain to me why e-mail isn’t also, or streaming video or instant messaging is not also."
Last year, Minnesota tried to impose telephone regulations on Vonage, a VoIP business that lets consumers hook up a regular telephone to a special adapter and, in some cases, even keep their traditional phone number.
"But a federal judge ruled in October that Vonage was an information service rather than a telecommunications service and that state regulation would run counter to congressional intent to keep the Internet free of regulation," says the story.
Powell says, "This is one area where we as regulators should wait for real demonstrable evidence of harm before accepting an invitation to intervene."
The FCC is expected to launch next month a review of what regulations, if any, should be applied to the service, says Reuters, adding:
"The present uncertainty may be distorting competition and the flow of capital," FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy said in a speech in Washington, D.C.
