Moving toward Internet-based telephony lessens the need for a spl...
Moving toward Internet-based telephony lessens the need for a split federal-state jurisdiction, U. of Colo. Computer Science & Telecom Professor Douglas Sicker said in a paper released by the Progress & Freedom Foundation. He called for a “more uniform…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
national policy” and greater deregulation of the communications sector, saying technological change was “delocalizing communications networks and services to such an extent that jurisdictional distinctions between state and federal governments are becoming less necessary, even counterproductive.” He said there were 6 key technology trends that affected the network: (1) The growing insensitivity of a call to distance. (2) The increasing modularity of the network. (3) The shift from circuit- switched to packet-routed networks. (4) The irrelevance of geographic boundaries to emerging technologies and the de- localization and de-emphasis of the central office. As voice has become “merely another application in the Internet Protocol space” that has “caused an appreciable regulatory quandary,” Sicker said “traditional notions of jurisdiction could inhibit the emergence and adoption of new technology and service models.” For example, he said regulating voice over broadband service as a traditional telecom, rather than a data service, “would force costly telecommunications obligations… onto a fledgling technology. Thus, an innovative service would be lost and an alternative provider eliminated… impeding network efficiency.” He said that while it could be “advantageous” to allow states to serve as “regulatory laboratories, the federal government must ensure that a uniform environment emerges that supports rapid technology adoption and deployment.”