Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FCC Rules On Pulver Free World Dialup

Posted by timothy on from the no-brainers-are-easy-for-the-fcc dept.

An anonymous reader writes " Light Reading is reporting that the verdict is in on Pulver's FWD. 'The first big decision was a victory for VoIP proponents. The commission ruled that Pulver.com's Free World Dialup VOIP service is an information service, not a telecommunications service. The decision was based largely on the analysis that it doesn't fit the 1996 Telecom Act's definition of a telecommunications service.' To me this was a no-brainer on the part of the FCC. Let's see if they get the rest right too."

9 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. If you want to join... by ArbiterOne · · Score: 5, Informative

    Apparently it's free... but the site was down when I arrived. The main site can be confusing, but the FWD site is: http://www.fwd.pulver.com.

  2. Why VOIP is not a communication thing by moduc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I love VOIP. Also, having free call over the world is great. However, I just cannot understand why VOIP is not a communication medium, and why the FCC has to decide whether to impose rule on it or not. It's is another way to transfer voice right? So, it does not work like a phone, but it does what a phone does - providing a mechanism for 2 people or more talking to each other. Maybe it should not be regulated because if doing so would slow the adoption of this technolog. But to decide whether it's like a telephone or not, to be fair, I think it's just like telephone or TV, no difference.

    1. Re:Why VOIP is not a communication thing by oldave · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Telephone companies have been regulated because they have traditionally been monopolies.

      The main reason is that it simply makes no sense financially for another company to hang wires to the same houses.

      VOIP doesn't have the same financial implications, and will introduce competition, particularly in the long distance markets.

      Television (broadcast - cable and satellite are different animals), on the other hand, uses a finite resource - electromagnetic spectrum. Channel assignments are regulated, which makes sense. I've never been comfortable with content regulation, but that's a discussion for other threads.

  3. Headline by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So I've they'd ruled against them would the headline have been "FCC Sucks On Pulver Free World Dialup"? :)

  4. This won't last. by bryanp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1) The big Telco's start revamping their systems so that they are giant VOIP systems.
    2) Tax revenues plummet.
    3) Congress says "I don't think so."
    4) Tax laws are amended.
    5) Tax revenues go back up (Govt. version of Profit!)

    No, no ??? line in this one. It's too obvious.

    --
    "An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." Col. Jeff Cooper
    1. Re:This won't last. by Roofus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oooh! I can play! This time I'll be the Cable Operators.

      1) Cable COs see that VOIP competition is eating away at a new market they want to be a major player in.

      2) Said Cable COs roll out DOCSIS 2.0 wih Quality of Service (QoS) provisions.

      3) Cable COs give their VOIP packets highest priority, and everybody else low priority.

      4) Customer calls to complain that their 3rd party VOIP is choppy. Customer service says "We can switch you over to our jitter-free service for only $5 more per month!"

      5) VOIP competition dies.

  5. SIPphone by Swe3tDave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    i got a free SIPphone software with my LindowsOS, you have to know someone who his also connected to the SIP network for this to work.. So its useless for me anyway..

    1. Re:SIPphone by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, this is exactly what Free World Dialup is all about. You get a number assigned to you by Pulver, and that's associated with your SIP connection information. You can then sign up with one of several VoIP-to-PTSN connection companies, and suddenly you have a 10-digit dialable number that leads to your SIP software.

      Of course, you'll have to pay for the VoIP-to-PTSN connect, and that's the service the FCC will regulate, Pulver's number assignment process however is not something that the FCC is going to complain about.

  6. The Day I became an Object Noun by jeffpulver · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Looking back, this has been one of the best weeks in my life, at least from the perspective of my life experiences in business.

    During the FCC February 2004 Meeting, while agenda item #4, the FWD Petition was being granted, I gave up counting how many times the name "Pulver" was mentioned in the proceeding.

    After thinking about this, I believe we witnessed the transition where my name became an object noun which will be associated with the petition that I filed on behalf of Free World Dialup on February 5, 2003.