TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: VoIP Backers Should Celebrate Bush Win

VoIP Backers Should Celebrate Bush Win

Lisa Minter (lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com)
Mon, 15 Nov 2004 12:25:48 -0500

http://news.com.com/VoIP+backers+should+celebrate+Bush+win/2010-1071-5450656.html

By Declan McCullagh

President Bush's second term is likely to yield ballooning deficits,
further erosion of civil liberties, and military adventurism that will
estrange the United States from the rest of the world.

But a decision last week illustrates why Bush's ascendancy is terrific
news for Internet telephony companies that would have experienced a
tougher time if a Democrat had moved into the White House.

The Federal Communications Commission's vote on Tuesday in favor of
voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, companies nicely captures the
long-running discord between the Democrats' regulatory fetishism and
the Republicans' regulatory restraint.

Led by FCC Chairman Michael Powell, the Republicans said VoIP must be
freed from the clutches of busybody state utility commissioners--an
argument also raised by Vonage and Internet companies worried about
states regulating prices and levying onerous taxes in the manner of
the former Soviet Union. As usual, that approach irked the two
Democrats on the five-member commission.

Full story at:

http://news.com.com/VoIP+backers+should+celebrate+Bush+win/2010-1071-5450656.html

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