1996-03-08
Craig A. Johnson
Hazardous conditions for Net providers and users may be lie ahead
around the next curve on the information turnpike. The talk on lists
this week has been all about the ACTA's petition to the FCC to
examine "the type of permissible communications which may be effected
over the Internet." Though various Commission spokespeople deny
they have any interest in regulating the Net per se, the warning has
been sounded.
In December, I argued in Wired that the failure (as represented in
the Senate bill) to guarantee access to "unbundled network
components," etc. at "reasonable prices" for ISPs and information
services could well have severe repercussions in that these entities
would have virtually no regulatory protective umbrella prescribed by
the law as regards pricing for access and interconnection fees.
Lately, Brock Meeks has issued a call to arms on the long-dormant
issue of "modem taxes." And, now Mark Jamison, a very good analyst
at Sprint, suggests that "rationalization of the interconnection
pricing system" may be in order.
This all has some rather ominous undertones to it.
--caj
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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 19:52:28 -0600
From: •••@••.•••
To: Multiple recipients of list <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: FCC Asked to Regulate Internet Phone Calls
I called our FCC people to see if they had reviewed this filing. They
were still trying to get a copy. Based on my discussions, the primary
issue appears to be that regular long distance pays access charges for
calls while ISPs pay local service rates for calls. So the real
solution probably isn't to regulate internet calls, but to rationalize
the interconnection pricing system, which the Act at least opens the
door for.
Mark Jamison
Sprint
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