Peer-to-peer Internet telephony ruled ‘information service’
 

Heather Forsgren Weaver

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday said that peer-to-peer Internet telephony services that do not touch the public-switched telephone network are information services and it began the process of regulating all voice over Internet protocol services but will tackle law enforcement access to VoIP in a separate proceeding.

“The notice of proposed rulemaking adopted today recognizes not only that Internet services should continue to be subject to minimal regulation, but also that mechanisms to implement important social objectives, such as public safety, emergency 911, law-enforcement access, consumer protections and disability access, may change as communications migrate to Internet-enabled services,” said the FCC. “Internet-enabled communications services are different from the public-switched telephone network services on which the country has relied for its communications services for more than 100 years.”

Since peer-to-peer VoIP, such Free-Access Dial Up, which asked for the ruling, does not charge for its service, all parties to a conversation must be using the service and it does not use traditional telephone numbers but rather five or six digit identifiers, the FCC said it was an information service.

By labeling peer-to-peer Internet telephony an information service, these types of services become exempt from telecommunications regulation.

While the Free-Access Dial Up ruling perhaps gives a signal as to how the FCC will deal with all VoIP services, it only began the process on Thursday with a notice of proposed rulemaking that asks how VoIP services, especially those that touch the PTSN, should be regulated.

The monetary stakes are huge. Currently, VoIP proponents believe VoIP services also are information services and not subject to traditional telephony regulation such as contributing to the universal-service fund and paying carriers to terminate calls (known as access charges). Many telecommunications carriers have begun offering VoIP services specifically because they feel they are exempt from these expenses.
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