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Federal Internet Law & Policy
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VoIP: CPNI Dont be a FOOL; The Law is Not DIY


Customer Proprietary Network Information is a safeguard that originates in the Computer Inquiry proceedings. It was codified by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Recently, the FCC imposed CPNI privacy obligations on interconnected VoIP service providers.

Regulation

In the Matter of the Implementation of the Telecom Act of 1996, CPNI, Docket 96-115, IP Enabled Services Proceeding, Docket 04-36

Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996:  Telecommunications Carriers’ Use of Customer Proprietary Network Information and Other Customer Information; IP-Enabled Services, CC Docket No. 96-115, WC Docket No. 04-36, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 22 FCC Rcd 6927, 6954–57, paras. 54–59 (2007) (CPNI Order), aff’d sub nom. Nat’l Cable & Telecom. Ass’n v. FCC, 555 F.3d 996 (D.C. Cir. 2009).

Report and Order and FNPRM (April 2, 2007)

Implementation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996:  Telecommunications Carriers' Use of Customer Proprietary Network Information and Other Customer Information; IP-Enabled Services, CC Docket  No. 96-115, WC Docket No. 04-36, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 22 FCC Rcd 6927 (2007)

F. Extension of CPNI Requirements to Providers of Interconnected VoIP Service

54. We extend the application of the Commission’s CPNI rules to providers of interconnected VoIP service.170 In the IP-Enabled Services Notice and the EPIC CPNI Notice, the Commission sought comment on whether to extend the CPNI requirements to VoIP service providers.171 Since we have not decided whether interconnected VoIP services are telecommunications services or information services as those terms are defined in the Act, nor do we do so today,172 we analyze the issues addressed in this Order under our Title I ancillary jurisdiction to encompass both types of service.173 If the Commission later classifies interconnected VoIP service as a telecommunications service, the providers of interconnected VoIP services would be subject to the requirements of section 222 and the Commission’s CPNI rules as telecommunications carriers under Title II.174

55. We conclude that we have authority under Title I of the Act to impose CPNI requirements on providers of interconnected VoIP service. Ancillary jurisdiction may be employed, in the Commission’s discretion, when Title I of the Act gives the Commission subject matter jurisdiction over the service to be regulated175 and the assertion of jurisdiction is “reasonably ancillary to the effective performance of [its] various responsibilities.”176 Both predicates for ancillary jurisdiction are satisfied here. First, as we concluded in the Interim USF Order and VoIP 911 Order, interconnected VoIP services fall within the
subject matter jurisdiction granted to us in the Act.177 Second, our analysis requires us to evaluate whether imposing CPNI obligations is reasonably ancillary to the effective performance of the Commission’s various responsibilities. Based on the record in this matter, we find that sections 222 and 1 of the Act provide the requisite nexus, with additional support from section 706.

56. Section 222 requires telecommunications carriers to protect the confidentiality of CPNI, and the Commission has adopted detailed regulations to help clarify this duty.178 The Commission already has determined that interconnected VoIP service “is increasingly used to replace analog voice service” – a trend that we expect will continue.179 It therefore seems reasonable for American consumers to expect that their telephone calls are private irrespective of whether the call is made using the services of a wireline carrier, a wireless carrier, or an interconnected VoIP provider, given that these services, from the perspective of a customer making an ordinary telephone call, are virtually indistinguishable.180

57. Moreover, extending section 222’s protections to interconnected VoIP service customers is necessary to protect the privacy of wireline and wireless customers that place calls to or receive calls from interconnected VoIP customers. The CPNI of interconnected VoIP customers includes call detail information concerning all calling and called parties. Thus, by protecting from inadvertent disclosure the CPNI of interconnected VoIP customers, the Commission will more effectively protect the privacy of wireline and wireless service customers. We therefore find that the extension of the CPNI privacy requirements to providers of interconnected VoIP service is reasonably ancillary to the effective performance of the Commission’s duty to protect the CPNI of all telecommunications customers under Title II.

58. Section 1 of the Act charges the Commission with responsibility for making available “a rapid, efficient, Nation-wide, and world-wide wire and radio communication service . . . for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communication.”181 In light of this statutory mandate in conjunction with the recent real-life implications of the unauthorized release of CPNI, protecting a consumer’s private information continues to be one of the Commission’s public safety responsibilities.182 If we failed to exercise our responsibilities under sections 222 and 1 of the Act with respect to customers of interconnected VoIP service, a significant number of American consumers might suffer a loss of privacy and/or safety resulting from unauthorized disclosure of their CPNI – and be harmed by this loss. Therefore, we believe that extending the CPNI obligations to interconnected VoIP service providers is “reasonably ancillary to the effective performance of [our] responsibilities”183 under sections 222 and 1 of the Act, and “will ‘further the achievement of long-established regulatory goals’”184 to protect the confidentiality of CPNI.185

59. We also are guided by section 706 of the Act, which, among other things, directs the Commission to encourage the deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans by using measures that “promote competition in the local telecommunications market.”186 The protection of CPNI may spur consumer demand for interconnected VoIP services, in turn driving demand for broadband connections, and consequently encouraging more broadband investment and deployment consistent with the goals of section 706.187 Thus, pursuant to our ancillary jurisdiction, we extend the CPNI obligations to providers of interconnected VoIP services.188

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