Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

Notes: Internet

Fed General Approach to the Internet

        US Congress Unfettered Internet

At the outset, the Court must note that the backbone of Vonage's service is the Internet. Congress has spoken with unmistakable clarity on the issue of regulating the Internet: "It is the policy of the United States . . . to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by Federal or State regulation." 47
U.S.C. § 230(b); see also Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. FCC, 153 F.3d 523, 544 (8th Cir. 1998) (concluding that, based on Congress's intent to leave Internet unregulated, ISPs should be excluded from the imposition of interstate access charges); Zeran v. America Online, Inc., 129 F.3d 327, 330 (4th Cir. 1997) (recognizing that "Congress acted to keep government regulation of the Internet to a minimum").
-- Vonage v. Minnesota PUC, Civil No. 03-5287, Sec. IV.A. (MJD/JGL) (DMN October 16, 2003)
 

FCC Hands off the Internet

Furthermore, in order to render an informed decision about how to proceed with the various issues surrounding VoIP technology, we need to better understand the technology and its various applications. In addition, under the “Nascent Service Doctrine,” regulators should exercise restraint when faced with new technologies and services.[9] If regulation is too oppressive while a technology is still developing, it could result in a dampening of the introduction or growth of that technology. Although there are instances where regulatory intervention is proper (such as market failure or consumer abuse), regulatory restraint is more prudent until such time as the technology is understood and viable. This Commission should not leap into a regulatory scheme until the full impact on this technology is understood.

[9]The Nascent Services Doctrine, Remarks of FCC Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy Before the Federal Communications Bar Association, New York Chapter, New York, NY, July 11, 2002.

-- PA PUC: Investigation into Voice over Internet Protocol as a Jurisdictional Service, Docket M-00031707, PA PUC Motion of C Glen Thomas Closing Investigation April 15, 2004

We consider in this section the competitive effects of the proposed merger on Internet backbone services. Our primary intent in reviewing the potential effects of this merger on Internet backbone services is to ensure that the dynamism that has characterized the Internet will not be undermined. We seek not to regulate the Internet, but rather to ensure that Internet services, which rely on telecommunications transmission capacity, remain competitive, accessible, and devoid of entry barriers. -- In re Application of WorldCom, Inc. and MCI Communications Corporation for Transfer of Control of MCI Communications Corporation to WorldCom, Inc., Report and Order, CC Docket No. 97-211 ¶ 142 (September 14, 1998)

Reed Hundt, Opening Remarks FCC Bandwidth Forum (January 23, 1997) <http://www.fcc.gov/Speeches/Hundt/spreh702.html> ("Don't misunderstand us; we do not in any way intend in this forum to be empowering government to do that which it does not need to do. Please understand the opposite to be the case, because the opposite is true.").

Affirmative Policy to Promote Internet

(1) The rapidly developing array of Internet and other interactive computer services available to individual Americans represent an extraordinary advance in the availability of educational and informational resources to our citizens.
(2) These services offer users a great degree of control over the information that they receive, as well as the potential for even greater control in the future as technology develops.
(3) The Internet and other interactive computer services offer a forum for a true diversity of political discourse, unique opportunities for cultural development, and myriad avenues for intellectual activity.
(4) The Internet and other interactive computer services have flourished, to the benefit of all Americans, with a minimum of government regulation.
(5) Increasingly Americans are relying on interactive media for a variety of political, educational, cultural, and entertainment services.

(1) to promote the continued development of the Internet and other interactive computer services and other interactive media;
(2) to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by Federal or State regulation;
(3) to encourage the development of technologies which maximize user control over what information is received by individuals, families, and schools who use the Internet and other interactive computer services;
(4) to remove disincentives for the development and utilization of blocking and filtering technologies that empower parents to restrict their children's access to objectionable or inappropriate online material; and
(5) to ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal criminal laws to deter and punish trafficking in obscenity, stalking, and harassment by means of computer.

⁶⁹ See 47 U.S.C. §§ 230(b)(1) and (2) (stating that the policy of the United States should be "to promote the continued development of the Internet and other interactive computer services and other interactive media" and "to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by Federal and State regulation"); id. § 157nt (encouraging "the deployment on a reasonable and timely basis of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans . . .")

    Infancy / Nascent

1. How ISPs Connect to Local Loop as End Users
 

See ISP Connection to the Telephone Network, Bell Atlantic Report, at & 2.1, p 11.

Timothy K Steven, Director-Carrier Services, Bell Atlantic Network Services, and James E Sylvester, Director-Technology Planning, Bell Atlantic Network Services, Superhighyway Traffic Taxes Current LEC Networks, Telephony Magazine, July 29, 1996 <http://www.ba.com/ea/fcc/article.htm>

"As a result of these decisions, ESPs may purchase services from incumbent LECs under the same intrastate tariffs available to end users, by paying business line rates and the appropriate subscriber line charge, rather than interstate access rates. Those business line rates are significantly lower than the equivalent interstate access charges, in part because of separations allocations and the access charge per-minute rate structure, and in part because the business lines that ESPs now purchase generally do not include usage-sensitive charges for receiving local calls. ESPs, consequently, typically pay incumbent LECs a flat monthly rate for their connections regardless of the amount of usage they generate. In re Access Charge Reform, NPRM, Third Report and Order, and NOI, CC Docket 96-262 & 285 (Dec 24, 1996)

"Business line rates often include per-minute usage charges for outgoing calls, but Internet service providers tend to exclusively receive calls from their subscribers." -- In re Access Charge Reform, NPRM, Third Report and Order, and NOI, CC Docket 96-262 & 285 n 380 (Dec 24, 1996)

ESP Access Network Topology: This ESP exemption has enabled the ESPs to build access to networks using state tariffed business lines. This architecture requires that ESPs establish business lines wthing the local calling area of their end-users. for example, for an on-line service of Internet access provider to reach 80 to 90 % of their end-users in California, they need to establish approximately 50 different business line hunt groups (e.g. local access notes). Local access nodes vary in size from a few lines upp to 1000 lines in a hunt group associated with a single telephone number. The number of lines, types of service (basic business line, Direct Inward Dialing Trunks, Centrex, and ISDN PRI) vary by type of ESP and the number of end-users in a local calling area." -- Pacific Bell ESP Impact Study at 1 (July 2, 1996)
 
 

Report of Bell Atlantic on Internet Traffic ' 1 (March 1996) <http://www.ba.com/ea/fcc/report.htm>

ISPs currently use several interconnection arrangements purchased from local service tariffs to transport calls from their subscribers to their centrally located network aggregation centers. These network centers typically house modems, routers, WWW servers, authentication servers, mail servers, etc. Traffic collected at these network centers is routed to the Internet backbone over dedicated facilities, or to other on-line services. Placement of these centers often is a function of minimizing local access costs, i.e. maximizing the number of subscribers that can be reached on a flat rate, local call, untimed basis.

The most common interconnection arrangement is to use the existing DDD network to provide dial-in access to an analog "modem pool" for those customers who can reach the hub central office on a local call basis. The ISP's subscribers dial in to the lead number of the multiline hunt group serving the ISP, and the DDD network makes the connection. Depending upon the size of the multiline hunt group, and the features and functionality desired, many ISPs decide to purchase either Business Dial Tone Line, Engineered CENTREX or CustoFLEX 2100 from the hub central office.

The price for Business Dial Tone Line service in Virginia, for example (including Subscriber Line Charge), varies from a low of $16.93 to a high of $18.93 per month, per line. There are no usage charges to the ISP since all traffic is incoming from the ISP's subscribers, and local tariffs contain no charges for terminating usage.

In order to obtain additional functionality and higher transport speeds, and to reduce their costs of operation, many ISPs are beginning to purchase ISDN PRI (Primary Rate Interface) service. Each PRI facility is equipped to handle 24 circuits (in most cases one circuit is required for signaling). The price of an ISDN PRI facility in Virginia (including Subscriber Line Charge) is $455.93 per month. Again, there are no usage charges billed to the ISP since all traffic is incoming from the ISPs subscribers.

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