Senate Commerce Committee Mulling Implications Of VoIP Bill

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

21 June 2004

Speaking to the Senate Commerce Committee last week, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Laura Parsky expressed concern over provisions contained in the VoIP Regulatory Freedom Act 2004, which is currently being examined by the Committee.

Under the terms of the proposed legislation, authored by Senator John Sununu (R-NH), internet telehony, or Voice over Internet Protocol would be largely exempt from regulation by the Federal Communications Commission, and by state and local authorities.

The bill would oblige VoIP providers to "provide access" to law enforcement agencies, but goes little further than that. However, according to Ms Parsky, the Department of Justice believes that unless carriers are required to put in place special technology to enable the use of wiretaps (as conventional telecoms providers are currently required to do), the new technology could become "a haven for criminals, terrorists and spies".

Concern was also expressed at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing with regard to the fact that the bill exempts VoIP from state and local taxes, with some senators arguing that this could impair the ability of the state authorities to pay for emergency service calls, which are often funded by local levies on telcommunication services.

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