VoIP Regulation: FCC adopts the CALEA NPRM - August 4th

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jeff Pulver <jeff () pulver com>
Date: August 4, 2004 2:59:42 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: VoIP Regulation: FCC adopts the CALEA NPRM - August 4th
Reply-To: Jeff Pulver <jeff () pulver com>

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- FCC adopts the CALEA NPRM at its August Meeting
- FCC Global Forum Coverage
- Fall 2004 VON Regulatory sessions
- Fall 2004 VON Conference & Expo: General Update
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Today was the day I was just going to send out an update regarding Fall
2004 VON, which is below, but with the FCC's action on CALEA today, I
thought it was important enough to preempt my scheduled Fall 2004 VON
update with the following:

The FCC has adopted the CALEA Declaratory Ruling and NPRM today at their
August, 2004 meeting. I understand that the NPRM is intended to help
create an environment in which VoIP can grow in a regulation-free
environment, while still addressing lawful intercept concerns. I believe
that the Declaratory Ruling clarifies that commercial wireless
"push-to-talk" services are subject to CALEA, regardless of the
technologies that Commercial Mobile Radio Service providers choose to
apply in offering them.  The wireless carriers employing push-to-talk 
have
apparently already anticipated and accounted for this.

The more relevant issue for VoIP providers is the NPRM, which will 
include
a tentative conclusion that, for purposes of CALEA ONLY, managed VOIP
could meet the "substantial replacement" test and could be subject to
CALEA obligations. I understand that the tentative conclusions are 
limited
to the CALEA provisions. Importantly, the item does not propose to
classify VoIP as a telecommunications services, and, therefore, should 
not
take us down a slippery slope in which VoIP would be categorized as a
telecom service and subject to the host of telecom regulations.
Furthermore, the tentative conclusion that CALEA applies to managed VoIP
services that are a "substantial replacement" to POTS, will not apply to
non-managed services like Free World Dialup.  In his Separate Statement,
Chairman Powell specifically states, 'The item also tentatively 
concludes
that non-managed, or disintermediated, VoIP and Instant Messaging are 
not
subject to CALEA, and that it is unnecessary to identify future services
and entities subject to CALEA.'

I understand that the NPRM will reinforce the FCC's commitment to 
holding
a "Solution Summit" on law enforcement access to Internet voice
communications. The Solution Summit will be an effort to develop
forward-thinking solutions that meet law enforcement's legitimate needs
without stifling the innovative potential of Internet communications.

The NPRM will apparently request comment on the feasibility of carriers
relying on a trusted third party to manage their CALEA compliance
obligations and whether standards for packet technologies are deficient
and preclude carriers relying on them as safe harbors for complying with
CALEA's capability requirements.

I believe that the NPRM is designed to address law enforcement issues 
but
is also part of a broader effort to ensure that VoIP remains free of
unnecessary requirements.

Having said all of this, the IP Communications industry still has to
remain vigilant to ensure that the FCC does not impose unnecessary,
onerous CALEA or other telecom obligations on IP-based communications
applications. It will also be important for us to ensure that the 
national
security issue does not sidetrack efforts to achieve a rational,
deregulatory VoIP policy.

We are living in interesting regulatory times.

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FCC Global Forum Coverage
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last week while at the FCC, while speaking at the FCC's Global Forum, I
took advantage of the opportunity to speak about the current state of 
VoIP
regulation in the US and around the world. Published news accounts from
this meeting include:

Internet News: Pulver Slams Senate VoIP Vote -
   <http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3388711>
Infoworld:VOIP providers: Regulation hampers growth -
   <http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/07/30/HNvoiphampers_1.html>.

There was some really good content and related data points shared during
the FCC's recent Global Forum. If you are interested in what is 
happening
in the international world of VoIP, take the time to watch the meeting
archive. The meeting archive is viewable by visiting:
 <http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/mt073004.ram>

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Fall 2004 VON Regulatory Sessions
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One of the key themes for Fall VON 2004 is Regulations and Telecom 
Policy
- where we'll take a hard look at the latest policy developments and the
impact on the IP Communications industry worldwide.

VON Conference & Expo <http://www.von.com>, has been the industry event
for the global VoIP industry since 1996.

Delegates attending Fall 2004 VON will be able to directly establish and
engage in dialog with the regulators. I expect the resulting "outside of
the beltway" dialog to be refreshing for all parties. :-)

Here are the highlights of the regulatory aspects of Fall VON

* Industry Perspectives at Fall VON 2004:

- Chairman Michael Powell, FCC (Tuesday October 19th)
- Senator John Sununu, New Hampshire (Tuesday October 19th)

* Town Hall Meeting - Robert Pepper, Chief of Policy Development, FCC
(Sunday October 17th)

* The Fall 2004 Telecom Policy Summit (Monday October 18th)
<http://www.pulver.com/von/schedule_telecom4.html>

This Summit will provide delegates with an update of what is happening 
in
the area of VoIP regulation from the people whose day-to-day job deals
with the regulators...and in some cases they are the regulators. For our
US coverage we will have people sharing their perspectives from: The 
FCC,
The States and from Capitol Hill. We also have a discussion of
International VoIP regulation.

Some of our confirmed speakers include:

A View from the Hill:
----------------------

- James Assey, Democratic Counsel, US Senate Commerce Committee
- Colin Crowell, House Commerce Committee - Minority Counsel
- Greg Rothschild, Minority Counsel, House Commerce Committee
- Howard Waltzman, Majority Counsel, House Committee on Energy and
 Commerce

Looking at VoIP through the Portals: (FCC)
------------------------------------------

- Matt Brill, FCC - Legal Advisor to Commr Abernathy
- Melissa Newman, Vice President, Qwest
- Jason Oxman, General Counsel, ALTS
- Staci Pies, Federal Regulatory Affairs, Pointone Communications
- Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC - Legal Advisor to Commr Copps

The "State" of VoIP Regulation:
-----------------------------

- Stan Wise, NARUC President and GA PSC Commissioner
- Robert Mayer, Director, Office of Telecommunications, NY PSC
- Glenn Richards, Shaw Pittman
- Greg Sopkin, Chair of the Colorado PUC
- Tom Welch, ME PSC- Chair

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fall 2004 VON - General Conference & Expo Update:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the schedule <http://pulver.com/von/schedule.html> for our 42
breakout sessions at Fall 2004 VON continues to get updated on a daily
basis, some of the confirmed Industry Perspectives and Conference 
Keynotes
include:

- Chairman Michael Powell, FCC
- Senator John Sununu, New Hampshire
- Cathy Martine, Senior Vice President, Internet Telephony, AT&T
- Shabtai Adlersberg, CEO & President, AudioCodes
- Denzil Samuels, VP, Service Provider Division, Avaya
- Eric Giler, CEO/Founder, Brooktrout
- Deb Lenart, President & CEO, Callipso
- Charles Giancarlo, Sr. VP & CTO, Cisco Systems
- Peter Briscoe, President & CEO, Convedia
- Marc Zionts, CEO, Excel Switching
- Dr. Robert Pepper, Chief, Office of Plans and Policy, FCC
- Christopher Fine, Vice President, Goldman Sachs
- Jack Waters, EVP, CTO & President Voice Technologies, Level(3)
  Communications
- Stef Van Aarle, VP, Global Strategy, Worldwide Services, Lucent
  Technologies
- Anoop Gupta, Corporate VP, Real-Time Collaboration Grp., Microsoft
- Sir Terry Matthews, Chairman & CEO, Newport/Mitel Networks
- Brough Turner, SVP & CTO, NMS Communications
- Al Safarikas, VP, Service Provider Mktg., Wireline Networks, Nortel
  Networks
- John Yoakum, Emerging Opportunities, Nortel Networks
- Sunil Bhalla, Sr. VP & GM of Voice Communications, Polycom
- Myself
- Joseph Licata, President, Enterprise Networks Division, Siemens
  Information & Communication Networks
- Hassan Ahmed, President & CEO, Sonus Networks
- Val Babajov, President & CEO, Webmessenger

In all, there will be over 300 people speaking at Fall 2004 VON.

Our exhibit hall is now sold out and we will be hosting over 190 
companies
at Fall 2004 VON Conference & Expo in Boston. For a complete listing of
our exhibitors please visit: <http://pulver.com/von/exhibit.html>. Our
exhibit floor will be opening on Monday night, October 18th where we 
will
be hosting our conference welcome reception. On Wednesday, October 20th,
the Goo Goo Dolls will be giving a private concert during our "All
Conference" party.

If you are planning on attending Fall 2004 VON and if you are not from 
the
Boston area, now would be a great time to secure a hotel room for the
event.

Now would also be a great time to register
<http://pulver.com/von/register.html> for Fall 2004 VON, especially if 
you
would like to take advantage of our special "early bird" pricing that 
ends
at the very beginning of September.

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(c) 2004 pulver.com VON Events, Inc.    All Rights Reserved
========================================================================

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