Hello,
Some of you may have seen this announcement:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/11/tech/main587995.shtml
This is just more evidence of the increasing demand being made on the current telecommunications regulatory regime. This can, and I believe should, become increasingly relevant to our current goals to block DMCA like theft of service legislation being promoted. Why? Because, as many people have become familiar with the use of telephones and their rights to use that technology, they will soon be surprised how quickly those rights can be usurped if they ever switch to VoIP services. This is a prime example of how the service providers will gain an unfair advantage in the market for generalized communications services. With such broad wording, and tendency to favor the provider over the consumer on questions of ownership, such legislation could endanger a consumers rights to privacy and free speech. For instance, as a part of the service agreement the provider may stipulate their right to control and charge for content available through their service even if the content is a voice message from your brother. They would also have the right to control the hardware you use within your home or place of business, dictating the type and cost at their whim. Claiming competition between Cable companies and Phone carriers wouldn't help, either, as anyone who has spent hundreds of dollars on cell phone equipment they couldn't use when they switched providers can attest to.
Anyway, without bold moves to strike down the legislative efforts of communications and content providers to gain protected market status, and the failure of federal and state regulators to protect the consumer, such moves could ultimately render good technology a bad thing. Talk amongst yourselfs. |
VoIP increasingly mainstream
Posted - 12/11/2003 : 12:20:35 PM
