Senator wants VoIP to be regulation free
U.S. Sen. John Sununu said he's preparing legislation to keep broadband telephone service providers from being "smothered by state and federal regulators."
The New Hampshire Republican described the proposed law at the Consumer Electronics Show as a "clear, pre-emptive remedy" that directs state utility regulators to take a hands-off regulatory stance on what's called voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
The legislation also seeks to make the Federal Communications Commission the main authority over VoIP service providers, the senator said.
As more conversations begin to flow through unregulated VoIP links instead of the heavily taxed public switched telephone network, state governments stand to lose billions of dollars. Because Net telelphony is not regulated, companies offering the service aren't subject to the vast thicket of taxes and regulations governing E911 and guaranteeing wiretapping access for police.
