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FCC Forum Divided on Future VoIP Regulation
ElCheapo writes "As the great philosopher Eminem once said, 'The FCC won't let [VoIP] be, or let [VoIP] be free.' In Washington today, the FCC held a public forum 'to gather information concerning advancements, innovations, and regulatory issues related to VoIP services.' Slashdot has seen numerous stories on VoIP regulation recently, but Tom Evslin, CEO of ITXC, brought up another point: If VoIP is over-regulated, it will not go away, it will just move to other countries and reach the point where regulation can no longer be enforced. With or without VoIP regulation, will a global P2P (PSTN-connected) voice network emerge? Will it start out as hobbyists setting up Asterisk Open Source PBX boxes connected to their home POTS line? Will some form of ENUM allow least cost routing to boxes sitting in basements and garages around the world? If an ITSP in Europe can setup an Asterisk box with PSTN access and start offering US phone numbers and vice-versa, will global number plans become obsolete? What effect will the ridiculously low barrier to entry for VoIP have on telecommunications?"
We may finally get fair pricing for long distance. I don't really see the point of long distance fees. It is not like the phone company had to walk the call there. Voice calls are routed along side IP packets, the only added cost to IP traffic is some grandfather clause letting Telco companies still gouge us. Besides, in Canada at least, most Telco networks were already paid for by people owned companies, so I do not accept cost recovery as an answer either.
wow. AC screaming "Government conspiracy!" gets modded 5 Insightful. Where is my Metamod?
We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
Eh... there's really no better way to earn karma on slashdot than crying about a government conspiracy... hell you could write a program to automate it.
Proponents of USF will point to the benefits to schools and poor people. But what of the unseen? What was not purchased because of these fees? What job was not created because a product was not bought? What medical invention was not created because the job was not found?
There are millions of dollars of wealth given to people or organizations who could probably obtain the service if they really wanted to. Rural people already pay less in rent than city folk. Poor people have other choices for being in communication with others. When was the last time that calling the police stopped a crime in progress? Do we really need subsidized 911? Government schools were having trouble graduating kids that can read before the internet was mainstream. Do we really need subsidized computers in the classroom?
If the services this fund provides are so important, wouldn't people be willing to donate to the fund voluntarily? Wouldn't people be willing to provide something in exchange to have this service? It's not a market failure when people don't act on your ideal. That's called a failure to persuade.
Let's honor the right of people to set their own terms for talking. Don't force the issue through an agent with a gun. Keep VoIP free of regulations, fees, and taxes.