Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : FCC Regulations -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Francis Gaskins who wrote (3)	4/10/1998 5:55:00 PM
From: Francis Gaskins	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54

More (empty) posturing by Bill Clinton & Co. -- Clinton Adviser Urges Unfettered Net Telephony -- Wired News Report 6:04pm 9.Apr.98.PDT With an FCC recommendation on Internet telephony due Friday morning, the Clinton administration's top telecom adviser has urged federal regulators to maintain their hand-off approach lest they "thwart the growth and vibrancy" of the Internet. "Any proposal to regulate Internet telephony as a 'telecommunications service' would raise contentious issues, resolution of which would have international, as well as domestic, repercussions," Larry Irving, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for communications and information, wrote in a letter Thursday to Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard. Irving said the administration is willing to work with Congress, the FCC, the industry, and others to ensure that universal service goals are met. The FCC is wrapping up work on a report to Congress in which it's expected to recommend new fees for cut-rate long-distance calling over the Net. A portion of the fees paid by traditional long-distance carriers to the Baby Bells and other local phone companies would be used to fund universal service, the system that ensures affordable access for rural areas and people on low incomes. As part of the FCC's long-standing effort to foster the nascent technology, Internet companies are exempt from access fees. But the blurring lines between traditional telecom services and Net telephony have prompted calls from lawmakers and telcos for the FCC to reexamine its policies.