Regulatory Issues of VOIP
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Regulation of Voice over Internet protocol is a sticky issue. Should Voice over Internet Protocol be regulated? The first issue to that has to be resolved is, is Voice over Internet protocol a data service or is it a voice service (Regulatory Issues of VoIP)? The main question in determining if Voice over Internet protocol is a data service or a voice service is what matters more, the type of information that is being transmitted or the technology that performs the transmission. Currently only telecommunications are regulated by the FCC, data networks are not regulated. Access to telecommunications networks are taxed, but access to the Internet has not been taxed since the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act (Mark). State and local governments have a strong financial interest in taxing Internet access. According to the Congressional Budget Office, local governments will loose between eighty and one hundred and twenty million dollars in taxes per year (Sullivan).
Another important issue is 911 access, participation in funding 911, and providing accurate location of the 911 caller. One of the main benefits of Voice over Internet protocol phones is the ability to for the end user to relocate the phone and keep the same number, but that the physical location information supplied will not be valid (VoIP Challenges)...