more on Kevin'sy VOIP testimony -- please consider for IP

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Lars Poulsen <lpoulsen () afar-inc com>
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2004 12:11:04 
To:kevin () werbach com, dave () FARBER NET
Subject: Re: [IP] Kevin'sy VOIP testimony -- please consider for IP

(For IP, if you like)

Kevin Werbach's testimony to the Senate Commerce Committee contains the 
following lines:
             "Let's be clear on what is not in dispute.  No one in the VOIP 
debate questions
              that law enforcement agencies should have access, subject to 
appropriate
              procedural safeguards, to the information they need to do 
their jobs.
              No one questions the need to support emergency services such 
as 911,
              or to ensure that Americans with disabilities have access to 
essential
              communications services.  And no one questions the enduring 
value of
              universal service to ensure that all Americans receive the 
benefits of
              telecommunications."

While I understand why he said that, I think that we SHOULD question all of 
these.

The Universal Service Fund is an old-fashioned tax levy to support a feel-good
boondoggle. If rural customers had to pay the cost of communicating, there
would be motivation to use the most cost-effective technology rather than
to spend USF tax money to deploy surburban technology in places where
it does not fit well. And as we re-divide the lines between service providers,
it is becoming harder to find the place where the tax burden should be placed.

Enhanced 911 service makes good sense in the traditional network, but is
insane in a Vonage-style or Skype-style VoIP network. And in the wireless
network, it is an excuse for putting a personal locator for the benefit of law
enforcement in the pocket of every lawabiding resident.

Providing wiretapping access to VoIP terminals (in a way that is not trivially
circumvented) is going to either require a ban on personal use of encryption,
or require a ban on open-source development of software for such commu-
nication.

/ Lars Poulsen            E-mail:    <lpoulsen () afar-inc com>
   Vice President          Telephone: +1-805-681-1993 ext 279
   AFAR Communications, 81 David Love Place, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA 

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