Begin forwarded message:
From: Jeff Pulver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Sat Mar 15, 2003 6:00:01 AM US/Pacific
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [FWD] FBI, DoJ OPPOSE COMPANY's EFFORT TO WIN REGULATORY FREEDOM FOR VoIP OFFERING
Reply-To: Free World Dialup - The Future of Dialing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi All,
Below is a snip from a news story written by Tom Leithauser at TR.com. This wasn't the kind of news story that I was expecting... :-(
Looks like we need to better educate some people in Government as to what
FWD is all about. I will be holding a special meeting/session at Spring
VON to discuss this. If you will be at Spring VON please let me know and
I will provide you with the meeting details.
If anyone has any concepts of a strategy for the best way to re-approach
this, please let me know. Now may be the time we need to out to the media
and make sure our story is known.
You can read each of the referenced filings by visiting: ( http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/comsrch_v2.cgi ) and entering: 03-45 in the Proceeding Box.
Best regards,
Jeff
---------- Forwarded message ----------
FBI, DoJ OPPOSE COMPANY's EFFORT TO WIN REGULATORY FREEDOM FOR VoIP OFFERING
The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau should reject an Internet
telephony provider's request for a declaratory ruling that its service is
free from telecom regulations, say the Federal Bureau of Investigation
and Department of Justice.
The request from Pulver.com should be dismissed without prejudice or held in abeyance until the Commission completes work on two related proceedings that will determine the regulatory treatment of wireline broadband and cable modem services, the FBI and DoJ said today in comments filed in Wireline Competition docket 03-45.
The broadband proceedings are important to the FBI and DoJ because their outcome may affect how telecom carriers will meet their obligations under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), which requires carriers to help authorities with wiretaps and other law enforcement activities.
"If certain broadband telecommunications carriers fail to comply with CALEA due to a misunderstanding of their regulatory status, criminals may exploit the opportunity to evade lawful electronic surveillance," the FBI and DoJ said.
<snip>
Other commenters, including Verizon Communications, Inc., and BellSouth Corp., agreed with the FBI and DoJ that the larger proceedings should be completed before the FCC rules on Pulver.com's petition. But Cisco Systems, Inc., which supplies Internet telephony gear, expressed support for Pulver.com's request.
"The one course of action the Commission should avoid is to permit the regulatory status of computer-to-computer VoIP [voice-over- Internet protocol] to become unsettled," Cisco said. Doing so could well slow the growth of IP networks generally."
<snip>
___________________________________________________________ FoIB Mailing List - Bits, Analysis, Digital Group Therapy http://www.ianbell.com
