Duncan Frissell writes:
At 11:37 AM 3/6/96 -0800, Jim McCoy wrote:
2- The phone companies (actually ACTA, the telco lobby) petitioned the FCC on Monday to regulate the Internet phone software companies.
IP phone systems themselves may need to move underground just to escape regulation. OTOH, there is nothing to prevent people from building their own systems once some free software is out there...
That would be a super neat trick since the LD business is currently deregulated (and in fact was never a government monopoly) and the local loop is in the process of deregulation, and Vocaltec is in some senses an Israeli company anyway and need not have a presence in New Jersey if it doesn't want do.
The regulation in question was regarding things like local/state/federal telecom taxes and levies, and all of the BS hoops that LD carriers must jump through. Regarding where such companies are located, I am also at a loss as to how this recent action will be enforced; that does not necessarily mean that a bureaucrat somewhere will not try to do something stupid. Just because LD is "deregulated" does not mean that it is without any governmental oversight, much as I wish it were... LD companies still have to pay certain taxes (take a look at your next phone bill, they are clearly listed in addition to your actual phone charges) and I am certain that they have entire office buildings stuffed with drones filling out paperwork for Uncle Sam... jim