I believe the FCC needs to be involved with regulating Google, Facebook, and Twitter. As I have indicated in the past, the Googles and the Facebooks of the wolrd are rapdily becoming the primary means of communication for people. Hence, both need to be subjected to some form of regulation.
Recently (October 14, 2009), AT&T sent the Sharon Gillett, Chief of the FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau a letter where it outlined its case against Google’s effort to launch its own voice business outside of Titles I and II of the Telecom Act of 1996 and change net neutrality rules in Google’s favor. AT&T’s letter has a subject heading of: "Google Voice; Establishing Just and Reasonable Rates for Local Exchange Carriers, WC Docket No. 07-135; Broadband Industry Practices, 07-52"
AT&T's presented a set of well thought out arguments for handcuffing Google now.
I do not agree with any carrier that it automatically operates outside of the Telecom Act as a carrier simply because your network is Internet-based. In today’s environment, voice is simply nothing more that non-text data but still data. Voice is a staple service and an infrastructure service. When I say voice is an infrastructure service I am referring to its critical nature in a society; you cannot live without it.
Any carrier supporting voice should be treated as a common carrier. The provisions within the Telecom Act of 1996 are designed to protect the consumer from predatory and irresponsible carriers seeking to dodge their obligation to the telecom public. For all practical purposes, telecom is not a privilege but a right. For those old enough to remember the 2nd Avenue Fire in 1975 of New York Telephone Company, the Hinsdale network outage circa 1985, and the Bushwick Avenue fire circa 1986, the events that followed these events would have long lasting affects on how telecom would be perceived. Just ask all of the people who could not use their phones to call for help.
Note that I treat current and emerging infocom services as telecom services. Rather than a telephone you have a cell phone or a computer.
As for RIM's problem you miss the point. If ISP based servcies becomes the prinicpal form of communications, then legal accountability is needed. As for RIM's problem being caused by a third party - TOUGH!!!
Telecom and infocom are infrastructure services and therefore need to have some form of regulatory oversight. Think of the early days of web surfing; back then it was the wild west. Entrepreneurs felt no responsibility to police who used the web. Finally we (as an industry) ended up dealing with wackos and pedophiles. Early entrepreneurs denied any responsbility until someone got hurt then suddenly laws were written to protect adults and children. It is amazing when threat of jail time gets you cooperation.
Will Facebook and Twitter transform their business and services? I have no idea but as far as I am concerned if the company is an information services provider you need to operate along a set of minimum standards for performance. Will Facebook and Twitter provide two way voice communications? Why not? Texting is two way communications.
The FCC and primarily the various state PSCs have been responsible for maintaining network reliability and service reliability in this country for decades (even long before the 1983 AT&T Divestiture). So I am not sure where this feeling the regulatory agencies cannot do the job. In the past, state PSCs (and to some extent the FCC) ensured service quality. Can you imagine new media companies doing whatever they wanted without thought to maintaining minimum service quality.If companies like Google and Facebook want to become the primary means of teleocmmunications for all people then they better deal with all that comes with being a provider of telecom services.
I have lived in the regulated and current deregulated environment. There are pros and cons to both. A balance needs to be achieved otherwise the consumer will lose out.
After personally living through a few network and service outages there is nothing that will convince me otherwise.
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PJLouis |
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12/26/2009
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