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Sent from: muddy@pooky.myhouse.com (gregor markowitz) > FCC Asked to Stop Net Phones > > A trade association of long distance phone service carriers has asked the > Federal Communications Commission to halt companies from selling software and > hardware products that enable use of the Internet for long distance voice > services. HEADS UP! This isn't what it looks like. Really this is the first volley by the communication giants aimed at the small Internet Service Providers. The phone companies have planned this for a long time. This is the process that could very well be the reason that 2/3 of the small ISPs go out of business by the end of the year, as predicted by those sage 'net mavens with 'a little birdie' in their ear. We have started a web site to cover this fascinating issue. http://mybell.com -- which is also a 'Free World Dialup' repeater and a 'nano-bell' (one line free international phone company). On this URL you will find links to the archives of voice on the net groups that really know this issue well, and know telecom strategy well. Anyone concerned that the small internet provider may go the way of the small farmer should familiarize themselves with this material. When cars came about, the carriage makers had laws written that required a flagperson with a red flag to walk in front of every motorized vehicle. When telephones came about, Western Union pushed for laws that made it illegal for the new phone companies to compete in the telegraph business. Later, when WU was bankrupt, they ended up going into the telephony biz and trying to compete with their successor anyway. -gregor markowitz ---- > Date: Tue, 19 Mar 1996 02:07:06 +1000 (EST) > Sent-from: Mitchell Porter <qix@desire.apana.org.au> What if you sold a T-shirt with net-phone code on it? Would they ban that as well? -mitch http://desire.apana.org.au/~qix